The St. Louis Cardinals, behind home runs by Paul DeJong and Lars Nootbaar, outlasted the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday at PNC Park, winning 7-6 to finish off a three-game sweep over their slumping NL Central rivals.
Of concern for the Cardinals is the health of starting pitcher Wade LeBlanc, who was forced out of the game with elbow pain after just two innings, allowing three runs on three hits.
DeJong hit a fourth inning homer of Pittsburgh starter and losing pitcher JT Brubaker for his 16th home run of the season. A homer by Nootbaar, serving as a pinch-hitter, pushed the lead to 5-3.
St. Louis has won five of six overall and 10 straight games at Pittsburgh. Colin Moran homered twice for the Pirates, who have been outscored 50-18 during an eight-game losing streak.
Here is the MLB Scoreboard from Thursday, August 12, 2021:
Oakland 17, Cleveland 0
Detroit 6, Baltimore 4
Tampa Bay 8, Boston 1
Seattle 3, Texas 1
Chicago White Sox 9, New York Yankees 8 (at Dyersville, IA)
LA Angels 6, Toronto 3
NY Mets 4, Washington 1
NY Mets 5, Washington 4
Philadelphia 2, LA Dodgers 1
Milwaukee 17, Chicago Cubs 4
Cincinnati 12, Atlanta 3
Arizona 12, San Diego 3
San Francisco 7, Arizona 0
