St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates
· Major League Baseball
1 - 2
Pirates beat the Cardinals 2-1 to secure their first non-losing season since 2018
Simon reached on a walk by Ryne Stanek (2-3), advanced to second on a wild pitch and scooted to third when the throw from catcher Ivan Herrera skipped into center field for an error. Horwitz's flyball to center was plenty deep enough for Simon to score.
Luke Weaver (4-1) got the final out of the eighth for Pittsburgh. Mason Montgomery struck out the side in the ninth for his 17th save in 19 chances as Pittsburgh improved to 81-78 with three games to go. The club's previous non-losing season came in 2018 when it won 82 games.
Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes ended an uneven year by his standards with 6 1/3 excellent innings in his 32nd and final start.
The 24-year-old, whose performance this year has been met with mild criticism locally, allowed one run, three hits and two walks and six strikeouts. He received a loud ovation when he was removed by manager Don Kelly after recording his 200th strikeout of the season when Cardinals designated hitter Leo Bernal was caught looking leading off the seventh.
Skenes became just the second pitcher in the franchise's 145-year history to reach 200 strikeouts in consecutive seasons. He finished 10-11 with a 3.82 ERA, nearly double the MLB-leading 1.97 ERA he posted in 2025.
St. Louis fell to 77-82, assured of consecutive losing seasons for the first time since the shortened 1994 and 1995 seasons.
Alec Burleson hit his 24th homer of the season in the first inning for the Cardinals.
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How can I watch St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates?
- TV Channel: Cardinals at Pirates 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
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Scoring Summary
 |
9th Inning | Saggese struck out swinging. |
|
9th Inning | Fermín struck out swinging. |
|
9th Inning | Fermín hit for Torres |
|
9th Inning | Bernal struck out looking. |
 |
9th Inning | Montgomery relieved Weaver |
|
9th Inning | Reynolds in left field. |
Statistics
 STL |
 PIT |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Games Played | 1 |
| 1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
| 1 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
| 9 | Ground Balls | 8 |
| 13 | Strikeouts | 8 |
| 1 | Runs Batted In | 2 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
| 5 | Hits | 7 |
| 0 | Stolen Bases | 2 |
| 2 | Walks | 5 |
| 0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
| 1 | Runs | 2 |
| 1 | Ground Into Double Play | 0 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Flies | 1 |
| 31 | At Bats | 30 |
| 1 | Home Runs | 0 |
| 0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
| 11 | Runners Left On Base | 19 |
| 0 | Triples | 0 |
| 0 | Game Winning RBIs | 1 |
| 0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
| 1 | Doubles | 1 |
| 9 | Fly Balls | 15 |
| 0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
| 142 | Pitches | 153 |
| 0 | Games Started | 0 |
| 1 | Pinch At Bats | 0 |
| 0 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
| 0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
| 1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
| 0 | Is Qualified In Steals | 1 |
| 9 | Total Bases | 8 |
| 34 | Plate Appearances | 36 |
| 162.0 | Projected Home Runs | 0.0 |
| 2 | Extra Base Hits | 1 |
| 1.7 | Runs Created | 3.7 |
| .161 | Batting Average | .233 |
| .000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
| .290 | Slugging Percentage | .267 |
| .194 | Secondary Average | .267 |
| .235 | On Base Percentage | .333 |
| .526 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .600 |
| 1.0 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.5 |
| 1.7 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 4.2 |
| 14.0 | Batter Rating | 19.0 |
| 31.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 0.0 |
| 0.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 1.00 |
| 4.18 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 4.25 |
| .129 | Isolated Power | .033 |
| 0.15 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.63 |
| .059 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .139 |
| .032 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .033 |
| 2.0 | Runs Produced | 4.0 |
| 1.0 | Runs Ratio | 1.0 |
| 0.4 | Patience Ratio | 0.4 |
| 0.2 | Balls In Play Average | 0.3 |
| 66.0 | MLB Rating | 72.3 |
| 0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 15,822 | Capacity:
2026 National League Central Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Milwaukee |
- | 59 | W5 | 0.63580245 | 103 |
 Chicago |
14 | 73 | W1 | 0.5493827 | 89 |
| Pittsburgh |
21 | 80 | W1 | 0.50617284 | 82 |
| St. Louis |
26 | 85 | L4 | 0.47530866 | 77 |
 Cincinnati |
28 | 87 | L1 | 0.46296296 | 75 |