The key for any sinkerballer, especially one of the best groundball-getters in the game like Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson, is to keep the pitch low in the zone and hitters from lifting it in the air.
Through 4 1/3 innings, Hudson did have four groundouts.
He also had allowed two homers.
The Pittsburgh Pirates pounced on Hudson's elevated pitches in the fourth inning for two home runs. Colin Moran hit a solo homer into the Cardinals bullpen, and Jose Osuna crushed a two-run homer. Osuna's homer traveled an estimated 429 feet and clattered around the empty bleachers in left-center field.