By MATT PIKE
Matthew Liberatore snapped an 11-start winless stretch and Alec Burleson got his major league-best 112th RBI as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 at PNC Park to even the series.
Liberatore, who improved to 6-14 on the season, gave up one run and six hits in 5.2 innings with six strikeouts and no walks. Liberatore's last win came on July 11th against the Atlanta Braves in his last start before the All-Star break, and during the 11 game winless streak, Liberatore had lost eight straight decisions.
The Pirates took the lead in the second inning on the lone run of the game, a home run given up by Liberatore to Brandon Lowe. A three run third inning gave the Cardinals the lead, starting with Burleson's RBI, a single scoring JJ Wetherholt to tie the game. Iván Herrera scored on a wild pitch with two outs, after Herrera walked earlier in the inning, and Leo Bernal hit an RBI single to score Burleson pushing St. Louis ahead 3-1.
St. Louis added their final two runs in the fourth inning as Masyn Winn worked a long at bat before doubling home José Fermín to extend the lead, and Winn scored as Wetherholt added an RBI single to stretch the lead to 5-1. St. Louis must win its final four games to avoid its first consecutive losing seasons since 1958 and '59 while Pittsburgh hopes to at least split its last four games to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2018.
Wetherholt finished the night 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored also walking once. Fermín was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
St. Louis and Pittsburgh close out their series on Thursday with the rubber match. Kyle Leahy (10-5, 3.65 ERA, 129K's) is set to start for the Cardinals against Paul Skenes (10-11, 3.91 ERA, 192Ks) for the Pirates. First pitch is at 11:35am, coverage begins at 11:25 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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