The St. Louis Cardinals jumped on the scoreboard, but still trail the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 in Game 2 of the NLDS.
Pirates vs. Cardinals score: Pittsburgh increases lead to 5-1
Gerrit Cole is turning in an impressive start in his first postseason appearance.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Lance Lynn ran into more trouble in the top of the fifth. The right-hander recorded his sixth strikeout of the game to start the inning, but Justin Morneau followed with a double off the wall. Marlon Byrd then plated Morneau with a ground-rule double; the ball looked like it would be a flyout, but kept carrying away from Jon Jay.
Pedro Alvarez followed the Byrd double with a four-pitch walk. That brought Mike Matheny out of the dugout, who replaced Lynn with Seth Maness.
Matheny called up Maness to force a double-play; the right-hander had a 68 percent groundball percentage during the regular season. Russell Martin did hit a grounder, but the ball slipped past Daniel Descalso for a RBI-single. Maness escaped the inning without allowing any more runs, but the Pirates went into the bottom of the fifth leading 5-0.
Yadier Molina plated the Cardinals first run of the game, leading off the top of the fifth inning with a solo homer.
Gerrit Cole recovered after the homer, retiring the next three hitters quietly to end the fifth inning.
Pittsburgh had a scoring opportunity in the sixth, but could not deliver. Starling Marte led off the inning with a walk, then Andrew McCutchen drew a one-out walk. Randy Choate bailed the Cardinals out of the inning, forcing a Morneau double-play.
Cole continued his strong pitching in the sixth, working around a one-out walk to Matt Carpenter to pitch a scoreless frame.
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