Pirates Steal One in St. Louis, Ashcraft Delivers in Clutch Victory

The Pittsburgh Pirates came to Busch Stadium on Sunday and did what too many teams fail to do against the St. Louis Cardinals in their own house: they won a tight ballgame. Final score 5-4, and make no mistake, this was a statement victory for a Pirates squad that refuses to go quietly into the September stretch.

Esmerlyn Valdez set the tone early with a two-run blast in the second inning, establishing himself as the aggressor in this matchup. That’s what winning baseball looks like: take your pitches early, capitalize on mistakes, and punish them with authority. Valdez understood the assignment. Later, Jared Triolo added another solo shot in the fifth to give Pittsburgh a 3-0 cushion. The Pirates’ bats were singing, and for once, they weren’t giving the opposition easy outs.

Liberatore’s 9 Strikeouts Mask a Vulnerable Cardinals Offense

Matthew Liberatore put on a strikeout clinic for St. Louis, fanning nine Pirates batters. On paper, that looks dominant. In reality, it was a mirage. The Cardinals scored just two runs through five and two-thirds innings, and while Liberatore’s stuff was clearly sharp, Pittsburgh’s patience at the plate proved to be the difference. You can strike out half the lineup and still lose if you can’t manufacture runs, and that’s precisely what happened here.

The Cardinals clawed back into the game during the fifth and seventh innings. Thomas Saggese went 3-for-4 and was involved in multiple scoring plays. Iván Herrera doubled in a run in the seventh, and Alec Burleson’s RBI single reached the 100-RBI milestone for the season. But here’s the thing: good teams finish. Pittsburgh finished. The Pirates scored the go-ahead run on Brandon Lowe’s seventh-inning single, and they held on.

Ashcraft and Montgomery Get the Job Done

Braxton Ashcraft wasn’t overpowering, but he didn’t need to be. Five innings, six hits, two earned runs, three strikeouts, one walk. That’s not flashy, but it’s effective pitching in a clutch spot. He kept his team in the game long enough for the offense to build a lead, and more importantly, he didn’t hand the Cardinals any gift-wrapped opportunities. Mason Montgomery came in for the save and didn’t allow a peep, proving once again that this Pirates bullpen has teeth when it matters most.

There were some quirky moments worth noting: pitch-clock violations, batter’s interference negating a stolen base, and multiple ABS challenges that had everyone looking at their screens wondering what the hell was going on. Welcome to 2026 baseball. The technology is supposed to make things cleaner. Sometimes it just makes them weirder.

But let’s not get lost in the weeds. The bottom line is this: the Pittsburgh Pirates walked into the Cards’ house on Sunday and beat them in a game that mattered. That’s a four-letter word in St. Louis right now. In a division race, character wins are everything, and the Pirates showed they have character in spades. This is a team nobody wants to face down the stretch.