Cardinals Feast on Skenes Early, Cruise Past Pirates 10-5

Sometimes you see a game unfold and you know exactly what kind of night it’s going to be. Thursday at PNC Park was one of those nights. The St. Louis Cardinals came out swinging with murderous intent, and by the time Paul Skenes threw his first pitch, it was already clear the Pittsburgh Pirates were in for a long evening. Final score: Cardinals 10, Pirates 5, and honestly, it felt closer than the numbers suggest.

Let’s start with what matters most. JJ Wetherholt led off the game with a solo shot to right field, and before Pittsburgh could even catch its breath, Jordan Walker crushed a two-run homer to left with Herrera aboard. Just like that, the Cardinals had a 3-0 lead before the Pirates’ bats had even stepped into the box. Skenes, for all his talent and the nine strikeouts he’d rack up by night’s end, got absolutely tattooed in the opening inning. You can spin it however you want, but that’s not the kind of start a pitcher recovers from against a hungry lineup.

The Cardinals methodically built on their advantage through the middle innings. Nolan Gorman drove in Burleson with a sharp single in the third. Alec Burleson, who was absolutely dialed in all night, singled in another run in the fifth. By the time we hit the eighth inning, St. Louis had breathing room, but they weren’t satisfied with a comfortable lead. They wanted to bury Pittsburgh once and for all.

The Eighth Inning Explosion

That’s when the Cardinals unleashed absolute hell. Nathan Church doubled to score two runs. Burleson followed with an RBI single, and Jordan Walker added another run-scoring hit. Five runs in one inning. The Pirates’ pitching was gassed, their defense was breaking down, and the Cardinals were operating on a completely different level. Walker finished with two hits and three RBIs. Burleson went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, putting on a clinic at the plate. These weren’t fluky hits, either. These were sharp line drives, well-executed at-bats against quality pitching.

Pittsburgh scored five runs of their own, so there’s that. Bryan Reynolds went deep in the fifth for two runs, and Brandon Lowe hit a solo shot in the seventh. But here’s the thing about a 10-5 game where you’re on the losing end: it feels like 10-0. The Pirates fought back with some legitimate offensive moments, but they were always chasing, always reacting to Cardinals aggression rather than dictating the tempo.

An Unlikely Hero Closes It Out

Gordon Graceffo somehow got the win despite throwing just 1.1 innings. That’s baseball, folks. He came in and did his job when it mattered. Matt Svanson sealed it at the end. But make no mistake, this game was decided in the first inning when Skenes left a fastball belt-high to Wetherholt and watched it sail into the bleachers.

The Cardinals are clicking right now. Their young position players are swinging it, they’re putting pressure on opposing pitchers immediately, and they’re not letting teams hang around. The Pirates have talent, but Thursday belonged completely to St. Louis from the opening pitch to the final out.