Paul Goldschmidt hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and Dylan Carlson added a three-run blast to help the St. Louis Cardinals rally past the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5 on Monday night. Brendan Donovan added a two-run double for St. Louis, which rallied from a 5-0 deficit. Michael Chavis and Diego Castillo homered for the Pirates, who have lost a season-high seven straight games. St. Louis has won six of seven against its NL Central rival this season. Goldschmidt broke a 5-all tie with his 13th homer off reliever Chris Stratton. Carlson punctuated a five-run outburst in the sixth with a three-run homer that tied the game. He has reached safely in 19 successive games against Pirates. St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was pleased with the way his team stuck with the game plan, despite the five-run deficit. Giovanny Gallegos picked up the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Ryan Helsley recorded his fifth save in seven chances. Chavis unloaded off St. Louis rookie left-hander Zack Thompson, who was making his first major league start and allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings. Chavis’ home run capped off a four-run fifth that put the Pirates up 5-0. He has three home runs and eight RBI in his last five games against St. Louis.
Ke’Bryan Hayes added a run-scoring single for Pittsburgh. Pirates starter Mitch Keller gave up two runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. UP NEXT UP the Cards and Pirates will play a day/night doubleheader today.