Jones walkoff blast has Cardinals falling out of the division race

Win: Chirs Resop (4-4)

Loss: Arthur Rhodes (0-1)

PITTSBURGH— The Pittsburgh Pirates have seen their core hitters plummet for the most part since the All-Star break but tonight they got the type of breakthrough performance they have needed in the past couple weeks, as the likes of Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker shined in the Pirates 5-4 walkoff win against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Garrett Jones (2-5, HR, 1R) hit a walkoff solo home run (to the river) in the bottom of the 11th, giving the Pirates a second straight win over the Cards. It was Jones 14th home run of the season and the Pirates second walkoff home run this season.

Jones heroics would not have happened if it wasn’t for a sensational catch from Andrew McCutchen, who ran down a ball in the gap for the 3rd out in the 10th inning to keep the game tied at 4-4.

McCutchen earlier in the game belted a 3-run homer in the third for his 17th home run of the season. McCutchen is three home runs away from becoming the 8th player in team history with at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases.

Neil Walker came up big in the 9th, taking a 1st pitch deep to right center for his 10th home run of the season, tying the game at 4-4. It was Walkers first home run at home since June 5th.

Walker, McCutchen and Jones combined for pretty much all of the Pirates offense in the win. Walker went 3-for-5 with a home run. McCutchen went 2-for-3 with a 3-run homer and Jones had a 2-for-5 night, highlighted by his walkoff blast in the 11th.

The Pirates improved to 58-63 on the season.

Jose Tabata appeared in his first Major League game since June 26th. He started in left field and batted leadoff, going 1-for-4 with a run scored and a walk.

The second straight loss was devastating to the St. Louis Cardinals (65-58) who have now fallen 6.5 games back of the NL central leading Milwaukee Brewers (71-51).

Albert Pujols continued his dominance against Pittsburgh in the loss. He belted his 30th home run of the season and has 11 straight seasons of 30 home runs or more.

An even more impressive stat is that Pujols 28 career homers at PNC Park rank 10th on the All-time list that includes Pirates.

Starter Jeff Karstens went 5 1/3 innings, allowing 6 hits and 3 runs, receiving a no decision.