Admittedly, part of the problem just might be that the Pirates aren’t used to having leads.
Chase De Jong gave up two homers in the ninth inning, including a two-run bomb by Albert Pujols (who’s officially ahead of A-Rod now) to destroy an excellent Mitch Keller outing and give the Cardinals the series, 4-3.
Over seven innings, Keller only gave up two hits, walked three, and struck out six while shutting out the Cardinals. Oneil Cruz got the Pirates on the board first in the third inning with a forceout, bringing Greg Allen home after he singled off Jose Quintana and was moved up by a steal and a Jason Delay single.