PITTSBURGH • The Cardinals intentionally walked Gregory Polanco in the second inning Sunday and were burned by Pittsburgh pitcher Francisco Liriano's two-run, two-out single. They didn't walk him with a base open and one out in the fourth and were burned again.
Following Sean Rodriguez's double off lefthander Tim Cooney, Polanco, hitting just .114 against lefthanded pitching, singled to right to put the Pirates back ahead 3-2 at PNC Park. Liriano, incidentally, struck out this time around.
In his fourth big-league start, Cooney pitched respectably, allowing three runs and fanning five, including Andrew McCutchen twice, in five innings.