Pittsburgh Pirates Lose Fourth In A Row Despite Edinson Volquez’s Performance

There was a terrific pitchers’ duel under the midday sun in Missouri on Wednesday that saw St. Louis extend the Pittsburgh Pirates losing streak to four games as the Cardinals won 1-0.

Clint Hurdle‘s squad is 2-4 at Busch Stadium this season and was swept by the National League Central leaders in early September for the second season in a row.

Pittsburgh remains in third place in the division with a record of 71-68, five games behind the Cards (76-63).

Edinson Volquez gave his teammates everything he had on the mound as he held St. Louis hitless into the fifth and departed a scoreless game with one out in the seventh.

The 6-foot, 220-pound right-hander surrendered just three hits, walked two, and struck out five on 82 pitches over 6 1/3 innings.

Southpaw Tony Watson came in to strike out one and finish the seventh with six pitches thrown. The next to answer the call to the bullpen was Mark Melancon as he threw 28 pitches in the eighth and ninth for the Bucs.

With the Cardinals up and two out in the ninth, Yadier Molina walked and then moved over to second on a Jon Jay single to left field. Peter Bourjos delivered the walk-off victory with a ground ball single to center off Melancon that drove home Molina.

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Despite Shelby Miller‘s career 2-6 record and 4.98 ERA against the Pirates, the 23-year-old right-hander allowed just three hits, walked three and struck out five over his seven innings of work.

Miller did elicit a warning to both benches from home-plate umpire Ron Kulpa when his first pitch in the sixth to Andrew McCutchen sailed behind his back.

The brush back was most likely in response to Matt Holliday being plunked by Volquez in the fourth with a hard sinker. Volquez also hit the next batter, but it was a slow curve that bounced off Matt Adams‘ shoe.

It was Neil Walker who had the most success at the plate for the Pirates as he had two of the three hits that Miller allowed and he was the only runner to advance as far as third base.

Right-handers Carlos Martinez and Trevor Rosenthal kept Pittsburgh’s bats quiet in the eighth and ninth respectively. Rosenthal picked up his second win against six losses this season.

The Jolly Roger crew is 22-22 since the All-Star break and 27-40 on the road this season. They have 14 more games on the road in September while playing nine at PNC Park, where they are 44-28.

The Pirates are off on Thursday. They continue their road trip on Friday as they open a three-game series with the Cubs at Wrigley Field. The first pitch is set for 1:20 p.m. The fifth-place Cubs (63-76) will send left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada (4-2, 2.79 ERA) to the hill while the Bucs will counter with Vance Worley (6-4, 3.01 ERA).

The 27-year-old right-hander will be making his 14th start and 15th appearance of the season on Friday afternoon. Worley has pitched into the seventh inning in eight of his 13 starts and threw his first Major League shutout against the Giants on July 28 in San Francisco. The game will be broadcast by ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.