ST. LOUIS (AP) — Quinn Mathews allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings for his first major league win and Jimmy Crooks hit a two-run homer to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.
Mathews (1-2) threw 102 pitches in the longest of his four starts. He struck out seven for the second time and walked one in his first outing at home.
Ryan Fernandez followed Mathews with two scoreless innings. Fernandez left
after a two-out walk to Brian Reynolds in the eighth and Caleb Ferguson got the final out when Reynolds was hit on the foot on a single through the infield by Oneil Cruz. Ryne Stanek struck out two in the ninth for his second save.
Nolan Gorman had a one-out double off Jacob Jones (2-6) in the third and Crooks followed with his fifth home run of the season for a 2-0 lead.
Jordan Walker and José Fermín singled leading off the fourth, and Nathan Church hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 advantage.
Jared Triolo had two of Pittsburgh's six hits and drove in a run with a two-out single in the fifth.
Walker singled and scored on a two-out throwing error by shortstop Jacob Gonzalez for a run in the eighth.
Jones surrendered three runs on seven hits with a walk and six strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings.
St. Louis (68-68) improves to 6-2 on the season against the Pirates (65-71), who have scored five runs in their last four games.
The Pirates have not announced Saturday's starting pitcher. The Cardinals will send out RHP Kyle Leahy (10-4, 3.13 ERA).
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