By WES CROSBY Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nolan Gorman hit his second career grand slam, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4 on Tuesday night.
Matt Carpenter dropped a soft single into left to load the bases with no outs in the fourth inning. Gorman followed with his 17th homer of the season, a 415-foot drive to left-center on a 1-2 sweeper from Mitch Keller (9-5).
“I definitely think it could be the start to something,” said Gorman, who is batting .192 on the season. “I think I made some strides, definitely, today with just loading, getting into a better position to hit. So, yeah, I think I’m going in the right direction right now.”
Gorman hit his previous grand slam in a 14-5 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 19, 2023.
“I’m extremely happy for him,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “You could see the dugout erupt when it happened just because everyone is pulling for him to get back on track. He’s been working hard. … To come into that situation, bases loaded, stay on the ball, towards left-center field. That’s a good sign. That’s a really good sign.”
Cardinals starter Kyle Gibson (6-3) gave up four runs, all in the fifth, and five hits in five innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
“I felt really good tonight,” Gibson said. “It’s frustrating to look back and know that I probably should’ve been able to go seven innings and save that bullpen a couple guys out there. That’s kind of the thing, I’m pretty harsh on myself. I’m pretty critical on myself. So, I’ll take tonight and deal with that how I need to deal with it.”
Ryan Helsley struck out one in a perfect ninth inning, earning his major league-leading 31st save in 32 opportunities.
Gibson cruised through the first four innings, striking out the side twice while allowing one hit and one walk. Jack Suwinski then connected for a three-run drive, one of his three hits on the night, in the fifth. Andrew McCutchen took Gibson deep to center two batters later for his 12th of the season.
“It’s big time,” said Suwinski, who was 3 for 30 in his previous 12 games. “Just something I’ll take with me into the next couple games and just keep rolling with that.”
Brendan Donovan lifted St. Louis to a 7-4 lead with an RBI single in the seventh.
Alec Burleson put the Cardinals ahead 2-0 in the third with a two-run shot for his 13th homer.
Keller surrendered a season-high six runs, five earned, in five innings. He allowed nine hits, struck out five and walked none.
“Burleson hit a homer. Good hitter, I thought it was a good pitch,” Keller said. “Then in the fourth … I thought I made a really good pitch to (Gorman), exactly where I wanted to. I know he’d been struggling a little bit, but Gorman had a great swing on it, drove it to the hardest part of the park to hit a homer. So, hats off to him.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: C Henry Davis, who last played June 14 because of a concussion, will be re-evaluated Tuesday night. Davis, drafted first overall by Pittsburgh in 2021, had his rehab paused after experiencing nausea and light headaches with Double-A Altoona on Saturday. He is currently asymptomatic, said director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk.
UP NEXT
RHP Jared Jones (5-6, 3.66 ERA) will take the mound for the Pirates in the second of the three-game set on Wednesday, opposite Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (6-7, 5.32 ERA).
