Pirates 3 – Cardinals 1: Correia out duels Cardinals Ace Chris Carpenter

W: K. Correia (2-0)

L: C. Carpenter (0-1)

S: J. Hanrahan (4)

Post-Game Wrapup: Starter Kevin Correia (2-0) out dueled Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter (0-1), pitching 7 shutout innings as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 on Wednesday afternoon to take 2 of 3 from the Cardinals.

The Pirates improved to 4-2 on the season and have won back-to-back road series for first time since 2007. Last year they won just 17 games on the road.

Correia allowed 4 hits and 0 runs in 7 innings, while striking out 3 and walking 2 batters. He left the game with a pitch count of 87 and now leads the majors with 2 victories and has lowered his ERA to 1.38.

The Cardinals 1-through-4 hitters went a combined 1-for-12 against Correia.

Through 6 games, the Pirates starting rotation has put together “4” quality starts and Pirate starters have a 2.52 ERA heading into their home opener on Thursday against the Colorado Rockies.

Carpenter came into the game 10-0 in his last 13 starts vs the Pirates and suffered his first loss against Pittsburgh since 2004 (6/24/04).

As what’s been a common scene through six games, the Pirates continue to get clutch and timely hits. They were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position but delivered in big situations.

Again today it was Neil Walker (2-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 run) whose solo home run in the 5th inning on a 2-2 count with 2 outs isn’t something that happens often against Carpenter. That was a huge momentum swing for the Pirates.

Walker’s solo shot was his 2nd home run of the season and he leads the National League with 8 RBI’s.

Lyle Overbay (2-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 run) had an excellent at-bat in the 9th, hitting a ground rule double with 2 outs, scoring Andrew McCutchen to push the Pirates lead to 3-0. Overbay saw 9 pitches in the at-bat.

Overbay is 4-for-8 with a home run and 3 RBI’s in his last two games.

The Pirates 1-through-6 hitters combined for 10 hits in the game. Walker, Andrew McCutchen, Overbay and Pedro Alvarez each had 2 hits.

Alvarez and Walker had nice rebound games after last night.

What’s also been good to see is the Pirates playing small ball at times, with Ryan Doumit recording just his 3rd career sacrifice bunt in the 8th inning, moving Pedro Alvarez to third base.

Evan Meek who has struggled this season, pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning against the top of the Cardinals order.

Joel Hanrahan allowed 1 run in the 9th, earning his 4th save of the season.

Ryan Doumit (1-for-3, 1 RBI) opened the scoring for the Pirates in the 4th inning with a double to right center, scoring Lyle Overbay to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.