O'Neill ends no-hit bid, Cardinals rally past Pirates 5-4

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tyler O'Neill hit a two-run double to end a no-hit bid started by Pittsburgh's Mitch Keller, and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to beat the Pirates 5-4 Saturday night.

Keller threw 84 pitches over six no-hit innings and was pulled from the game leading 4-0, but the Cardinals scored five runs off relief pitchers Geoff Hartlieb and Sam Howard in the seventh. O’Neill broke up the no-hit bid and keyed the inning with his bases-loaded double against Howard (2-3).

St. Louis improved to 25-24 and is a game ahead of Cincinnati and Milwaukee for second place in the NL Central. The top two teams in each division advancing to the expanded postseason.

The 24-year-old Keller spun a gem in his second start since missing six weeks with a strained left oblique, but was pulled well short of finishing it off. He walked two and hit O’Neill with a pitch before retiring his final 14 batters, finishing with six strikeouts.

Hartlieb relieved in the seventh and promptly loaded the bases by walking Brad Miller and Paul DeJong and drilling Yadier Molina. Howard then came in and allowed O’Neill’s line drive into the left field corner.

Keller entered with a 1-1 record and 5.06 ERA in three games. He was activated from the injured list Monday after being sidelined since Aug. 2.

After O’Neill got the Cardinals within 4-2, Dylan Carlson hit a sacrifice fly, and Kolten Wong and Tommy Edman delivered back-to-back RBI singles.

The rally took Kwang Hyun Kim off the hook for the loss after he allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings. Kim, in his rookie season with the Cardinals after 12 years in the Korea Baseball Organization, had made four consecutive starts in which he pitched at least five innings without allowing an earned run.

Jake Woodford (1-0) retired the last two...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/O-Neill-ends-no-hit-bid-Cardinals-rally-past-15581125.php