PITTSBURGH — Matt Carpenter raced home to break a scoreless tie in the ninth inning when two Pittsburgh Pirates outfielders mishandled Jon Jay’s single, and Mark Reynolds followed with a two-run home run to lift the banged-up St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-0 victory Monday night.
The Cardinals reduced their magic number to clinch a third consecutive National League Central title to two after getting to Pittsburgh closer Mark Melancon (3-2). St. Louis can wrap up the division with a victory at Pittsburgh tonight.
In the bottom of the seventh, Cardinals outfielder Stephen Piscotty was carted off the field following a violent collision with teammate Peter Bourjos as both were tracking Josh Harrison’s drive to the gap. The team said Piscotty was taken to the hospital with a head contusion, and all tests conducted were negative. He will be held overnight for observation.
CARDINALS 3, PIRATES 0
Piscotty, who was playing left field, lay motionless on the grass in left-center field for several minutes after the collision. Bourjos’ knee slammed into the head of the diving Piscotty. Bourjos made the catch while Piscotty crumpled to the turf.
Piscotty was strapped to a backboard and carted off the field.
The rookie did manage a wave with his left hand before disappearing into a tunnel underneath the stadium, eliciting a big cheer from the Pittsburgh crowd.
“The ball was just hit between us, and we both tried to make a play on it,” Bourjos said.
“The situation in the game, I think we both thought if the ball fell it might be the outcome of the game.”
In the ninth, Carpenter singled with one out and scored all the way from first when Pittsburgh right fielder Gregory Polanco overran Jay’s hit and center fielder Andrew McCutchen couldn’t pick the ball up cleanly.
Reynolds then drilled his 12th home run of the year to give closer Trevor Rosenthal some cushion to earn his 48th save. Jonathan Broxton (4-5) earned the victory.
Pittsburgh, already assured of a wild-card berth, left 16 runners on base while falling four games behind the Cardinals with five to go.
Pittsburgh has been relentlessly chasing frontrunning St. Louis for five months.
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Pirates finally had their chance to catch the Cardinals if they could earn a three-game sweep at home in a matchup of the teams with the two best records in the majors.
Instead, St. Louis did what it has done all year, relying on its pitching and just enough hitting to keep Pittsburgh at bay.
“I don’t know if there is a game that would define it more than this one all season,” Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny said. “We had our backs against the wall every single inning. A lot of it is self-induced. Big plays all the way through. I can’t even begin to unpack the whole thing, there was so much that happened. Just an unbelievable win.”
The Cardinals survived on a night they issued 10 walks. Pittsburgh put runners on base in every inning except the first, but none could find their way home on a night the Pirates went 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position, including 0 for 3 in the ninth with the tying run at the plate.
St. Louis starter Lance Lynn labored his way through five scoreless innings, most of them out of the stretch while the Pirates kept wasting opportunities to take control.
Starling Marte was nailed at the plate to end the second while trying to score on a shallow fly to center by Jordy Mercer as Jason Heyward’s throw beat the speedy Marte by three steps.
Marte then struck out with the bases loaded to end the third.
Polanco led off the fifth with a double only to run into an out at third on a chopper to shortstop by Josh Harrison. Lynn needed 96 pitches to retire 15 batters, walking four with six strikeouts.
Pittsburgh starter J.A. Happ, a revelation since being acquired at the non-waiver trade deadline from Seattle, was decidedly more efficient. The lefthander allowed only Kolten Wong’s single leading off the third.
Otherwise, he was dominant, striking out four and needing only 56 pitches to get through six shutout innings to lower his ERA to 2.04 in 10 starts with the Pirates. Happ was lifted for pinch-hitter Michael Morse with two outs and two on in the sixth.
Morse walked to load the bases, but St. Louis reliever Seth Maness got Polanco to hit a routine fly to right to end the threat.
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