Albert Pujols went 4-4 including a solo homer in the first and a single leading off the Cardinals three run fourth inning to push St. Louis past Zach Duke and the Bucs.
Duke didn’t have his best outing, but he was okay. He gave up four in 5-1/3. The big blow in the fourth was a two run triple from Chris Duncan.
Mitchell Boggs started for St. Louis and ran up a high pitch count before being pulled after Nate McLouth’s double pulled the Pirates to within 4-2 with one out in the fifth inning. The St. Louis bullpen threw 4-2/3 innings of one hit relief to seal it. Kyle McClellan got the win for his relief effort.
The Good
Duke certainly wasn’t terrible. He paid for his mistakes as the Cards offense was efficient. He only allowed eight base runners and half of them scored.
Nyjer Morgan had two hits, drove home one and scored another. He also stole his 7th base of the year.
The Bad
The offense remains stagnant.
Jason Jaramillo was tossed out at home in the second on Morgan’s run scoring hit..
The Rest
Last time a pitcher with the last name of Boggs appeared against Pittsburgh was 9/3/83 when Tommy Boggs relieved for Atlanta in a losing effort. The Pirates were six games over .500 after that win. The key play was a pinch hit grand slam from Mike Easler in the sixth inning off of Steve Bedrosian.
Pujols’ effort pushes his career BA against Pittsburgh to a ridiculous .371 (182 for 490). He has more career homers against the Pirates than against any other club.
