Pirates edge Cardinals

Apr 17, 2007, 4:10 GMT

St. Louis, MO - Ian Snell threw seven innings of three- hit ball and Albert Pujols popped up with the bases loaded in the ninth to end the game, as the Pittsburgh Pirates held off the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 at Busch Stadium.

Snell (1-1) struck out six and walked four for the Pirates, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Salomon Torres recorded the save, his fifth of the season, despite loading the bases in the ninth.

Adam Kennedy reached on an error by Adam LaRoche to start the ninth, then moved to second on Yadier Molina's sacrifice bunt. Pinch-hitter Aaron Miles singled to third to put runners at the corners, and Torres plunked David Eckstein with a pitch to load the bases.

Torres then got Chris Duncan to fly out to shallow left field, setting the stage for Pujols. Pujols, however, popped a 1-0 pitch up to third baseman Jose Bautista who caught the last out in foul territory.

Xavier Nady had two RBI and Freddy Sanchez had a single and a triple for the Pittsburgh, which improved to 4-2 away from home.

Anthony Reyes (0-2) surrendered three runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out two for the Cardinals, who have dropped two of their last three games.

Scott Rolen had two hits and a run scored for St. Louis, which fell to 1-5 at home.

Pittsburgh got three in the first.

With one out, Jack Wilson drew a free pass before LaRoche and Sanchez hit back-to-back singles, loading the bases for Jason Bay, who also worked a walk to force in a run. Nady then hit a ground ball up the middle, scoring Sanchez and LaRoche for the 3-0 lead.

Snell kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard until the seventh.

Rolen led off with a single, then moved to second two batters later when Scott Spiezio walked. Kennedy brought home Rolen with an RBI single and Molina then walked to load the bases, but Snell got pinch- hitter Skip Schumaker to pop out in foul territory and Eckstein to ground out, limiting the damage to one run.

St. Louis cut the margin to one in the eighth after Jim Edmonds hit a bloop single to shallow left field, plating Duncan, who had led off the inning with a single.

Game Notes

Pittsburgh was a league-worst 23-57 on the road last season...The Pirates returned to action for the first time since Friday. They had three games cancelled due to rain over the weekend, including Sunday's doubleheader against San Francisco...LaRoche's error in the ninth ending a 64 inning stretch without an error for Pittsburgh...St. Louis announced the make-up date for the April 13 rainout with the Milwaukee Brewers before the game. The game will be part of a day-night doubleheader on July 28.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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