Pirates post 9-0 shutout win over Cardinals and are now 14-5 in last 19 games

PIRATES 9 – CARDINALS 0

The Pittsburgh Pirates (15-10) are now tied for the most wins in the National League after today’s 9-0 shutout win over the St. Louis Cardinals (14-10), taking 2 of 3 in the series. The Pirates 15 wins in April are the most since 1992, their last winning season. The Pirates have won 8 of 10 games and are now 14-5 since a 1-5 start.

Some numbers from today’s game:

*Jeff Locke (3-1, 2.83 ERA) pitched 7 innings of shutout ball, allowing 3 hits and no runs, while striking out 4 and walking 2. Locke’s command has been much improved of late and threw 59 strikes on 95 pitches. Locke has 13 innings of shutout ball in his last two starts and in his three wins this season, Locke has an 0.50 ERA in 18 innings.

*Russell Martin (.267 – 5 HR – 9 RBI) continues to give the Pirates some power in the lineup and hit 2 home runs today, going 3-5 with 2 homers, 3 RBIs and a double. Martin has 5 home runs and 8 RBIs in his last 10 games. Martin has homered in consecutive games for the seventh time in his career.

*Garrett Jones (.324 – 2 HR – 13 RBI) homered for the first time in 15 games and went 3-5 with home run, RBI and double. Jones has hits in four straight games and is batting .324/.382/.515 on the season.

*Starling Marte (.323 – 1 HR – 8 RBI) collected his 11th multi-hit game of the season, going 2-5 with a run scored. Marte also added his NL leading 7th stolen base. Marte extended his hitting streak to 8 games and now has hitting streaks of 8 and 10 games this season.

*Jose Tabata (.182 – 1 HR – 3 RBI) hit a solo home run in the 5th off Shelby Miller with 2 outs and added a walk.

*Justin Wilson (1.13 ERA) pitched 2 shutout innings in relief of Locke, allowing no hits and walking 1.