The Pirates couldn’t get much offense going against Silvio Martinez and the Cards. The result was a 4-2 St. Louis win.
Bruce Kison pitched well for much of the game. He got out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first by striking out George Hendrick and getting a ground out. In the third he gave up a run on a sacrifice fly by Ted Simmons, then he threw scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth.
The Pirates tied the game in the top of the sixth, but TOOTBLANed themselves out of more. Rennie Stennett led off with a single but got caught stealing. With two out, Omar Moreno walked and stole second, then scored on a single by Tim Foli. Dave Parker followed with another single, but was thrown out trying to take second, ending the inning with the score 1-1.
St. Louis got the lead back in the bottom half on a home run by Simmons. The Pirates had a chance in the top of the seventh, but pinch runner Matt Alexander got thrown out trying to score from third on a fly ball.
St. Louis chased Kison in the seventh. A single, an error by first baseman John Milner on a bunt attempt, and a run-scoring single brought on Grant Jackson. He got two outs, but a single in between drove in a fourth run and closed the book on Kison. He gave up four runs and eight hits over six innings. Kent Tekulve got the last out of the inning.
Martinez kept setting the Pirates down until the ninth. The Pirates got a repeat of their first run; Moreno walked, stole second and scored on a single by Foli. The two steals gave Moreno 13 on the young season. That made it 4-2 and chased Martinez, but Darold Knowles retired the next three hitters.
The Pirates had only six hits, all singles. Kison’s record dropped to 1-1 and the team’s to 10-14. After the game the Bucs moved on to Atlanta, with John Candelaria set to start against Mickey Mahler.
