The St. Louis Cardinals (5-7) dropped their road series to the Pittsburgh Pirates (5-8), falling 2-1 in 13 innings. Good pitching and defense on both sides kept the game scoreless through regulation, but the draw finally broke in extra innings when the Pirates walked it off with a single following back-to-back walks.
Starting Pitchers
STL: Erick Fedde - Delivered a strong outing, throwing six hitless innings and striking out two. Despite giving up four leadoff walks he kept the Pirates off the board, exiting after 88 pitches.
PIT: Mitch Keller - Matched Fedde with solid work to keep the game scoreless. He allowed four hits, struck out six and walked one.
Cardinals Bullpen Performance
7th Inning: Phil Maton hit Joey Bart with a pitch and gave up a single to Endy Rodríguez but escaped without damage.
8th Inning: Kyle Leahy issued one walk.
9th Inning: Ryan Fernandez gave up a single but retired the side, sending the game into extras.
10th & 11th Innings: JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley pitched clean frames.
Scoring Summary
12th Inning
With the ghost runner on second, Pirates pitcher Ryan Borucki balked, moving Willson Contreras to third. Nolan Arenado was intentionally walked, and Jordan Walker hit a clutch RBI single to right, scoring Contreras and moving Arenado to third.
It took more than 11 innings… but a run has finally been scored! #STLCards pic.twitter.com/tMUO5nGbBi
— Sports Hub STL (@SportsHubSTL) April 9, 2025
Steven Matz took the mound in the bottom of the 12th and recorded an out on an Endy Rodríguez fly ball to center, allowing ghost runner Ke'Bryan Hayes to tag up and reach third. Tommy Pham then delivered a game-tying RBI single to left.
Walk-Off
In the bottom of the 13th, Chris Roycroft walked Alexander Canario and Bryan Reynolds. Andrew McCutchen grounded into a fielder’s choice, forcing out Isiah Kiner-Falefa at home and advancing the runners. Joey Bart then delivered the game-winning single to left, scoring Reynolds and giving the Pirates a 2–1 victory—and the series win.
Stats & Notes
The game lasted 3 hours and 23 minutes.
The Cardinals are 0-4 in extra-inning games during the 2025 season.
St. Louis missed a chance to take the lead in the eighth when Thomas Saggese was tagged out at home after a misplayed pop-up near the plate.
Saggese was out on this play
— Sports Hub STL (@SportsHubSTL) April 9, 2025
Right call by the umpire? #STLCards pic.twitter.com/5xI7MgP8qJ
Pirates ML (-102) cashed while the total score stayed UNDER 8 (-112) and was really never threatened. This marked just the second time this season a Cardinals game finished under the posted total.
On Deck
The Cardinals wrapped up their road trip with a 1-5 record and return home to open a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday at 7:15 p.m. CT. Andre Pallante (3.86 ERA) is set to start for St. Louis, going up against Aaron Nola (6.35 ERA) for Philadelphia.