PITTSBURGH—The Cardinals’ offense, which often has been lacking, did something it hadn’t done all season Thursday night by scoring seven runs with two out, the most they’ve had in a nine-inning game this season.
But lefthanded reliever Genesis Cabrera squandered a four-run lead and allowed six of his own in a catastrophic seventh inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates overcame an early 7-0 deficit and won going away 11-7 in a match the Cardinals long will remember this winter if they come up a game short of the postseason—if they even get that close.
The Pirates, ending a string of 10 consecutive Cardinals victories over two seasons at PNC Park, scored eight runs before the Cardinals recorded an out in the seventh—that was a first in the majors this season--as Andrew Miller failed to retire either of the two men he faced and Cabrera was akin to a shooting gallery, retiring none of the six men he faced, with three of them lefthanded hitters.
