Carpenter hits another pinch homer as Cardinals beat Pirates

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Matt Carpenter hit his second pinch. three-run home run in as many days, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3 on Friday night.

Carpenter connected off Duane Underwood Jr. in the sixth inning to put the Cardinals ahead 6-1 while batting for John Gant (2-2). Carpenter was batting .096 when he followed Tyler O’Neill’s single and Andrew Knizner’s walk with a drive to right-center for his third home run this season.

Carpenter took Philadelphia ace Aaron Nola deep Thursday in a game the Cardinals won 4-3 in 10 innings.

“I know this is crazy to say based off the numbers, but I don’t think it’s really representative of how I’ve been swinging the bat,” Carpenter said. “I’ve made a lot of hard outs and haven’t gotten anything going on a consistent basis as far as production. Even during times when I was making outs, I felt like I was where I needed to be. Still, you obviously want to have success.”

O’Neill had three hits, including a leadoff home run in the fourth inning. The drive cleared the bullpens in center field, to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

Nolan Arenado hit run-scoring bloop doubles in the first and third innings, the first Cardinals batter with two doubles in a game since Yadier Molina against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 9, 2019.

“We were able to scatter some runs, throwing up some ones here and there and putting them on their heels, per se,” O’Neill said.

St. Louis won for the sixth time in eight games.

Gant gave up one run, three hits and five walks in five innings, including an RBI single in the fourth by Kevin Newman, who had two of Pittsburgh’s four hits.

“Tonight, I didn’t have a whole lot working for me,” Gant said.

JT Brubaker (2-2) allowed three runs and...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Carpenter-hits-another-pinch-homer-as-Cardinals-16143422.php