Cards Get Big Homer from Alec Burleson, Survive Score in Ninth to Top Pirates
Alec Burleson hit his fourth homer of the season and Nathan Church robbed another potential homer in the bottom of the ninth as the Cardinals beat the Pirates, 5-4 at PNC Park.
Roundtable Sports writer John Denton discusses the Cardinals 5-4 win over the Pirates on Wednesday night at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Mired in an ugly skid where he failed to get a hit in 15 at bats, Cardinals’ first baseman Alec Burleson ended his personal drought in the weirdest of ways back on Monday night. Burleson squibbed a 55.
7 mph spinner to third for an infield single and he playfully celebrated the moment by extending his arms outward like an umpire to pronounce himself safe. Just for good measure, Burleson came back in his next at bat on Monday with another 57. 5 mph spinner that remarkably started found, but spun along the third base line for another hit.
Little did the Cardinals or Burleson know it at the time, but the two softly hit singles ignited something within the sweet-swinging lefty’s game and finally got him swinging a hot bat again. A night after doubling and driving in three runs on Tuesday, Burleson crushed a 411-foot, opposite-field homer to lift the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Pirates. The Cardinals survived a major scare in the ninth inning when Nick Gonzalez drilled a ball to the left field wall where outfielder Nathan Church robbed another potential homer.
Church, one of the Cards’ biggest surprises so far, has already robbed two homers this season. “That was kind of scary because I thought that ball was going to go out,” catcher Ivan Herrera said to Cardinals. TV after notching a double, an infield single and an RBI in the win.
Continue to the original source for the full article.