Travis Ishikawa drives in 4 as Pirates outslug Royals 10-7

by The Associated Press

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/pit/

July 21, 2015

Pittsburgh Pirates' Travis Ishikawa watches his two-run double during the second inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Monday, July 20, 2015, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Travis Ishikawa is having a rough season. On this night, he enjoyed one of the best games of his career.

Pitching Details

• 
  Win
  A.J. Burnett
  8-3
• 
  Loss
  Yordano Ventura
  4-7
• 
  Save
  Mark Melancon
  SV: 30

Ishikawa had three extra-base hits and drove in four runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates outslugged theKansas City Royals 10-7 Monday.

Ishikawa, who was 1 for 13 with one RBI in nine games since the Pirates claimed him on waivers July 5, hit a two-run double in a four-run second that came within inches of going out. He homered in the fifth with Jung Ho Kang aboard. And in the eighth inning, Ishikawa's double sparked a two-run rally.

''Big night at the plate,'' Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. ''He showed a real good swing to left field Sunday in Milwaukee when he pounded the ball to the wall. He hit another one sharp. Those two balls hit hard in this ballpark to dead left field. And that shot to the gap in right-center in the eighth was a shot in the arm for us.''

Ishikawa was on the disabled list this year with a lower back injury. He played 37 games in the minors, was sent outright to Triple-A Sacramento by the San Francisco Giants and designated for assignment before the Pirates picked him up.

''I don't have a strategy,'' Ishikawa said. ''I couldn't tell you why it worked tonight. I'm just trying to see the ball. Wherever it goes, it goes. I wish I could tell you I was controlling it, but if I could my average would have been a lot higher. You can hit the ball hard and not get rewarded for it. Pitchers can make a pitch and not get rewarded for it. Tonight was just my night when the balls began to fall.''

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2. Jungmann, Brewers finish off sweep of Pirates The Associated Press
3. Walker homers twice as Pirates pound Tigers 9-3 The Associated Press
4. Cole wins MLB-best 13th as Pirates beat Cardinals 5-2 The Associated Press
5. Royals edge Blue Jays 11-10 after blowing seven-run lead The Associated Press

A.J. Burnett (8-3) won despite giving up a season-high five earned runs and 11 hits - including two homers - in his initial start since his first career trip to the All-Star Game. The 38-year-old right-hander pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the second.

''From the get-go, you could tell it was going to be a battle for both sides,'' Burnett said. ''They came out swinging. We came out swinging. Early runs left and right.''

The Royals cut the deficit to 8-7 in the seventh and chased Burnett. Mike Moustakas homered leading off the inning. Eric Hosmer had an RBI triple for his third hit and scored on Kendrys Morales' groundout.

Pittsburgh answered with Neil Walker's two-run triple in the eighth off Luke Hochevar.

Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his 30th save in 31 opportunities. He has converted a franchise-record 28 consecutive saves.

View gallery

Kansas City Royals' Lorenzo Cain reacts after an out to end the eighth inning of a baseball game …

Starling Marte also had three hits, one of six Pirates with multihit games.

Morales, who hit a two-run homer off the right-field foul pole in the fifth, tops the American League with 65 RBIs.

Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura (4-7), the team's opening-day starter, was pulled in the fifth. He gave up six runs on 11 hits and a walk.

''Nothing is scripted in this game,'' Ventura said through a translator. ''That's baseball and that's the way it is. It's a new year. Last year is last year, and I've just got to work and get better.''

TRAINER'S ROOM

View gallery

Pittsburgh Pirates' Neil Walker watches his two-run triple during the eighth inning of a basebal …

Pirates: SS Jordy Mercer (sprained left knee ligament) went on the disabled list and is expected to miss six weeks. ... C Francisco Cervelli left in the seventh with discomfort in his right wrist.

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen, who had his second Tommy John surgery in March 2014, was activated after six rehab starts in the minors. He made his Royals debut, giving up four runs and four hits in 3 1-3 innings.

UP NEXT

Pirates: RHP Gerrit Cole looks for his major league-leading 14th victory Tuesday night. He is 8-1 with a 2.23 ERA in his past 10 starts.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas will come off the disabled list and make his first start since June 8.

All aspects coming together for Pirates' Cole in 2015

By John Perrotto
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
July 19, 2015


National League's Gerrit Cole, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, throws during the third inning of the MLB All-Star baseball game, Tuesday, July 14, 2015, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/sports/mlb/article27280936.html#storylink=cpy

As hard it might be to believe now, the Pittsburgh Pirates were criticized in some circles a little more than four years ago for picking the wrong UCLA pitcher.

The Pirates had the first pick in the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft and chose Gerrit Cole, even though fellow Bruins right-hander Trevor Bauer had better statistics that spring and was higher on many team’s draft boards.

Bauer, selected third by the Arizona Diamondbacks, since has been traded but is having a solid season with the Cleveland Indians, going 8-6 with a 4.03 ERA in 18 starts. His career record is 15-18 with a 4.29 ERA in 52 starts.

Cole, meanwhile, has blossomed into an ace in his second full season with the Pirates. He led the major leagues wins at the All-Star break and is 13-3 with a 2.30 ERA in 18 starts, raising his career record to 34-15 with a 3.09 ERA in 59 starts.

Cole makes his next start Tuesday night when he faces the defending American League champion Royals at Kansas City.

“Who would you take now?” said an executive from an AL team earlier this week. “Is that even a question?”

Cole had pedigree when the Pirates drafted him. He had been the New York Yankees’ first-round pick in 2008 following his senior year of high school in Orange, Calif., but opted to attend college.

The Pirates felt the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Cole possessed the physical traits necessary to be an ace with his large build and fastball that reached triple digits. They also felt he had above average intelligence that would eventually help him overcome bouts of immaturity which Cole readily admits kept him from signing with the Yankees.

This year, the physical and mental side of pitching have come together and it has been something to see.

Cole throws two kinds of fastballs, a four-seamer and a sinking two-seamer, along with a slider, curveball and changeup and is willing to mix them up. However, the quality of those pitches have improved noticeably since he made his major league debut in June, 2013.

“He wasn’t getting a lot of swings and misses when he first got called up,” said Pirates right-hander A.J. Burnett, who was part of the National League squad along with Cole this past Tuesday at the All-Star Game at Cincinnati. “Now you’re seeing him put together strikeouts.”

Cole is averaging 8.9 strikeouts this season, up from 7.7 in 2013 and consistent with his 9.0 mark of last season.

One hitter who has noticed the improvement is San Francisco Giants All-Star shortstop Brandon Crawford, whose sister Amy became engaged to Cole on Wednesday. Amy Crawford played softball at UCLA while Cole was on the baseball team.

“When he came up, he threw the fastball 97-98 mph, and it didn’t have a lot of movement,” Crawford said. “He’d had to dial it down to 93-94 before he got movement. Now the fastball really moves and it’s tough to square up a 98-mph fastball when it is moving the way Gerrit’s does.”

Cole is fiery competitor and sometimes the fire would burn out of control in the past. He was also such a perfectionist that he would stomp around the mound seemingly every time he gave up a hit.

However, Cole has learned to calm down.

“He’s found a way to slow it down when the game speeds up on him,” Burnett said. “As long as he keeps doing that, he's going to be great,”

Examples of that maturity came in Cole’s last two starts before the All-Star break.

Cole gave up three runs in the first three innings to the Cleveland Indians on July 5 as the Pirates fell behind 3-0. Instead of getting flustered, Cole settled down and retied his last 16 batters and Pittsburgh rallied for a 5-3 victory.

Five night later, the St. Louis Cardinals jumped in front 2-0 on Cole and continually fouled off pitches to keep plate appearances alive.

Cole needed to throw 114 pitches over seven innings and managed just three strikeouts yet he shut the Cardinals out over his final five innings and the Pirates again rallied for a 5-2 win.

“He’s got great stuff but what really impressed me was how he found another gear once he got the lead,” said Indians manager Terry Francona, a New Brighton graduate. “You see that more in veteran pitchers than a guy that young. That’s special.”

Everyone in baseball is finding out how special Cole is this year, which was why he was selected to his first All-Star Game. However, in another example of his growing maturity, Cole refuses to bask in individual honors and instead says he is focused on getting the Pirates back to the postseason for a third straight year.

“It’s nice that people recognize what you do and think highly of you, I think everybody wants that,” Cole said. “I don’t want sound dismissive but all that is secondary to being part of a team and helping us win.

“That’s really what it comes down to. It’s a team sport, and if you do well then everyone will be recognized for it, and playing on a team like we have makes it fun.”

McCutchen looking forward to watching Trout, Harper; calls All-Star Game 'always fun'

By John Perrotto
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
July 13, 2015



Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, left, holds the jersey for Gerrit Cole alongside the other Pirates All Stars, Mark Melancon, Andrew McCutchen and A.J. Burnett as they show their jerseys before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday, in Pittsburgh. (Keith Srakocic/AP)

CINCINNATI — Andrew McCutchen would seemingly be past being star struck at the All-Star Game.

The Pittsburgh Pirates' center fielder will be competing in his fifth straight Midsummer Classic on Tuesday night at the Great American Ball Park. However, he said Monday during media day that the thrill never wears off.

“It’s always fun,” McCutchen said. “It’s great to be around all of the best players in the game, get a chance to talk to as many as you can.”

McCutchen will start in center field for the National League and bat leadoff.

McCutchen is undoubtedly one of the game’s best players and knows he does not have to take a backseat to anyone. However, he admits looking forward to seeing Los Angeles Angels' center fielder Mike Trout and Washington Nationals' right fielder Bryce Harper play.

“Those guys are on another planet from everyone else now, they are in their own galaxy,” McCutchen said. “They are great players. The best part is that they are so young that they’re only scratching the surface of what they might do.”

---

No one seems to be enjoying himself more than Pirates' right-hander A.J. Burnett, who is finally taking part in his first All-Star Game at 38 in what he says will be the final season of his 17-year career.

Burnett plans to wear Batman-themed black-and-gold spikes during the game as a tribute to Pittsburgh.

“Pittsburgh is my Gotham,” he said. “Pirates fans, the people in the city, everyone there accepts me as one of them and that’s really cool. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to pitch and make everyone back in Pittsburgh proud. I wouldn’t be here without their support.”

---

Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole is at his first All-Star Game at the tender age of 24. He is already hoping that it's the first of many.

“It’s just an awesome feeling to be here around all the great players,” Cole said. “I’m really going to enjoy this and I know I’m going want to keep coming back again and again. It definitely gives me motivation to want to keep performing at an All-Star level.”

There had been some thought that Cole, who leads the major leagues with 13 wins, would start for the NL, but manager Bruce Bochy, of the San Francisco Giants, tabbed Los Angeles Dodgers' left-hander Zack Greinke for the honor.

All-Star A.J. Burnett: 'Now I can say I've done it all'

Paul Daugherty, pdaugherty@enquirer.com

http://www.cincinnati.com/

July 13, 2015

(USA Today)

There is no right place to start with A.J. Burnett, who has pitched 17 years in the big leagues, won a strikeout title and a world title, thrown a no-hitter in which he walked nine batters and once shattered a truck window with a warmup pitch. On purpose.

Some athletes have careers. A.J. Burnett has had a lifetime.

"I've been through it all, and now I can say I've done it all,'' Burnett said Monday, of his first All-Star Game invitation, at age 38. "I'm one of a kind. Not many like me, put it that way.''

Nope, not unless you know a lot of guys who resemble a latter day Butthead, sporting a modified Mohawk hairdo and enough tattoos to open a gallery. Burnett said he will wear "Batman'' spikes Tuesday night, "black and gold and they got some wings,'' he explained. "Because I am a huge (Batman) fan (and) Pittsburgh is my Gotham.''

We might as well start at the end with Burnett, a Pittsburgh Pirate who is pitching as well as he ever has, partly because his always electric right arm and his formerly hot head finally have found common ground. He's a fully formed pitcher and person, too, something not even Burnett could ever have envisioned.

"I wish I'd been this way a long time ago,'' he said.

So, naturally, he's walking away after this year.

"My mind's made up. Heck, why not go out with a bang, you know?'' he said.

Most jocks have to be shown the career door at 2 a.m., and begged to call a cab. Knowing when to leave is a gift as rare as a 100 mph fastball. You'd think a guy with enough drive to survive 17 years in a Darwinian occupation like baseball would be hesitant to give it up, once he finally got things just the way he wanted them.

You'd think that. But there is nothing quite ordinary about Burnett.

He has the ability to call his career shot. He took a $4 million pay cut to sign with the Pirates, rejecting a player option with the Phillies that would have paid him $12.75 million this year. Pittsburgh got him for $8.5 million, simply because Pittsburgh was where Burnett wanted to be. Before playing for the Phillies last year, Burnett had spent two years as a Pirate, educating younger players on how to be big league. He liked it in Pittsburgh, surrounded by young, hungry teammates on the rise.

"Where I've been the happiest,'' said Burnett.

At 38, he reinvented himself, as aging power pitchers must. Instead of throwing 97 mph fastballs, Burnett started mixing in 90 mph sinkers on the corners. Better control, a tighter grip on what he was doing. "Ain't no Fountain of Youth,'' Burnett said.

"It's knowing what I have. It took awhile for me to get over trying to strike everybody out. I still like my strikeouts. But let 'em beat it into the ground. Keep the ball down. Ball's up, you get hit. That's all it is.''

Burnett has led the league in losses, walks, earned runs, hit batsmen and wild pitches (three times). In 2001, he threw a no-hitter while walking nine.

"Eight,'' he suggested Monday.

"Nine,'' I said. "Look it up.''

"And I hit a guy,' Burnett said.

While pitching for the then-Florida Marlins, Burnett became a little agitated that the team mascot, Billy the Marlin, would drive a truck behind home plate between innings, while pitchers warmed up. "What's a truck doing on the field in the middle of a game?'' he wondered.

Young A.J. did the only sensible thing. He deliberately threw at the truck. A 90 mph purpose pitch, at Billy the Marlin. The ball shattered a back window. "Slipped outta my hand,'' Burnett suggested Monday.

"No, it didn't,'' I said. The toss was, in fact, 10 feet to the first base side of the catcher.

"The truck was never on the field again'' was all Burnett would say about that.

Of the 70 stars here, 31 are here for the first time. It's a young man's game. This isn't lost on Burnett, who spent a long time acting like a young man, but has aged as well as any bourbon in a barrel. "It's time to get on with the second half of my life,'' he said.

Burnett has two sons, 14 and 11, and a wife of 15 years who has done all the heavy lifting. "Time to give them some at-bats,'' he said. I asked him why it was so easy for him to leave the mountaintop after working so hard to get there.

"I think it's because I've given a lot back the last couple years,'' Burnett said. "It's not all about A.J. Burnett. Leave a positive influence on guys you play with. That means more than anything.''

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle explained Burnett this way:

"We prepare for our future by our past, if we've paid attention. And he's paid attention."

Pirates gain ground on Cardinals with unlikely win

By Bill Allmann

http://www.timesonline.com/sports/

July 13, 2015

The Pirates' Gregory Polanco (25) gets a hit in front of Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) to drive in Jung Ho Kang with the game-wining run in the 10th inning on Sunday in Pittsburgh. The Pirates won 6-5 in 10 innings. (Keith Srakocic/AP)

PITTSBURGH — After the St. Louis Cardinals scored two runs on Arquimedes Caminero in the top of the 10th inning, it looked as though the Pirates would gain no ground from of an outstanding series with the first-place Cardinals.

But the story, at that point, was yet to unfold. Jordy Mercer led off the bottom of the 10th with a single, but Neil Walker’s drive to deep center field was caught at the wall and Andrew McCutchen grounded out to third base with Mercer advancing to second.

That, however, would be the last out that Cardinals all-star reliever Trevor Rosenthal would record. Starling Marte singled to right field to score Mercer. Jung Ho Kang followed with a single to center field and Francisco Cervelli’s single down the right-field line scored Marte to tie the game. Pinch-hitter Travis Ishikawa walked to load the bases and Gregory Polanco hit the first pitch he saw into right field for the game winner. It was Polanco’s first career walkoff and earned Caminero, who had looked to be on the hook for a loss, his first major league win.

It wasn’t just the ending that was back and forth — the game started out as back and forth as Saturday night’s had ended.

The Cardinals scored in the top of the second when Mark Reynolds grounded into a double play and Jason Heyward scored. The Pirates answered in the bottom of the second when Francisco Cervelli hit a one-out triple, and after a short fly to right by Sean Rodriguez, the Cardinals intentionally walked Polanco to get to Francisco Liriano. Liriano foiled that strategy with a two-run single into the right field corner for a 2-1 Pittsburgh lead.

The lead didn’t last, though, as Jhonny Peralta lined a 3-2 pitch into the left-field seats in the top of the third inning to tie the game.

The Pirates regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Rodriguez doubled to right field with one out and Polanco followed with a single to bring him home. The Cards tied the game in the eighth inning when Yadier Molina grounded to third base with the bases loaded, scoring Kolten Wong, who reached base when he was hit by a pitch.

That set the stage for the extra innings as the teams with the best records in the National League battled every step of the way — the two teams combined to use 13 pitchers.

KEY MOMENT

In the top of the 10th inning, the Cardinals had the bases loaded with one out when Randall Grichuk lined into the right-center field gap. Two runs scored, but the Pirates limited the damage as Mark Reynolds was thrown out at home on a throw from McCutchen to Mercer, who relayed to Cervelli. Peter Bourjos then lined to Neil Walker and the deficit proved to be not too much to overcome.

STAR OF THE GAME

Polanco — For the third time in a week, Polanco provided the game winning hit as the Pirates finished an 8-2 homestand. He singled to right field on the first pitch he saw from Rosenthal with the bases loaded and two outs. It was his third hit of the game and his first career walkoff.

HIDDEN STAT

5 — Of the 10 games that the Pirates and Cardinals have played, five have gone extra innings. All were decided in walkoff fashion.

NOTEWORTHY

* After extending the bullpen with Saturday’s 14 inning fray, the Pirates optioned Steve Lombardozzi to Indianapolis and recalled Wilfredo Boscan, the Indians’ scheduled starter for Sunday. In addition, left-handed starter Jeff Locke was available in the bullpen with the next four days off.

* Mercer batted in the leadoff position for the first time in his career in the regular season. He did bat there a few times in spring training.

* Corey Hart is on his way back to Pittsburgh after his rehabilitation stint in Indianapolis. He may not be ready to return to action, however. General Manager Neal Huntington reported that his shoulder is now fine but knee problems have surfaced and he will be evaluated when he gets to Pittsburgh.

* Pirates minor leaguer Josh Bell (Altoona) played first base for the USA team in the MLB Futures game. He hit a two-run homer — the game’s only home run — as the USA defeated the World 10-1.

* McCutchen’s hitting streak ended at 18 games, the longest hitting streak of his career. One more game would have matched the Pirates’ longest hitting streak since 2008 — Nate McLouth’s 19-gamer.

* Mark Melancon pitched a scoreless ninth, although he didn’t figure in the decision. He has now allowed just one earned run in his last 37 appearances, covering 36 2/3 innings.

* Liriano, who entered the game with a .057 batting average and no runs batted in, drove in the first two runs. He started the game with three total RBI in his nine-year career.

UP NEXT

The Pirates will enjoy four days off for the All-Star break, with the exception of A.J. Burnett, Gerrit Cole, McCutchen and Melancon, who will play in Tuesday’s game in Cincinnati. Pittsburgh will return to action Friday in Milwaukee with Charlie Morton as the scheduled starter. The 31-year-old right-hander is 6-2 with a team-high 4.15 ERA (but still better than 10 other starters in the National League) and is scheduled to face Mike Fiers. The 30-year-old right-hander is 4-7 with a 3.96 ERA.

Cardinals collapse again

By Rick Hummel

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/

July 13, 2015

St. Louis Cardinals' Mark Reynolds, left, lunges for home plate as Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli reaches to tag him out in the tenth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, July 12, 2015, in Pittsburgh. Cardinals' Pete Kozma and Yadier Molina scored ahead of him on a bases-loaded double, but Reynolds was called out. The Pirates won 6-5 in 10 innings. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) 

PITTSBURGH • Precisely two weeks ago, the Cardinals had a nine-game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central Division race. Now it is 2 1/2.

How did this happen, you say? Simple. The Cardinals have gone 5-9 since June 29 and the Pirates 11-2, including Sunday night’s improbable 6-5 win in 10 innings over the Cardinals, which gave them three wins in four games over the weekend.

But, hard as it was afterward and with his team scattering to various forms of transportation to either get to the All-Star Game, get home or to a vacation site, manager Mike Matheny wanted to make sure his team knew where it stood.

“It hurts, no question,” said Matheny. But, referencing the Cardinals’ 14-inning loss by the same score Saturday night, Matheny said, “There’s a whole lot of teams that wouldn’t have showed up today.

“To watch these guys come back and fight and the energy, even when we got down, shows a lot about this team. I wanted to make sure they do — or don’t do — is make any bigger deal of this than two games. That’s all it was.

“I told them, ‘Don’t forget what we’ve been able to do. Don’t forget what kind of team we are.’ I want to make sure they remember and they acknowledge the fact that this team has heart and what we saw tonight was a great example of that.”

After Randal Grichuk, who had three hits for the second night in a row, doubled home two runs in the top of the 10th against Arquimedes Caminero, Matheny called on ace closer Trevor Rosenthal, who couldn’t wrap up Saturday’s game when he had a one-run lead in the 10th but had to go 1 1/3 innings, throwing 27 pitches.

Entrusted with a two-run lead Sunday, Rosenthal plainly didn’t have it, allowing three runs and five hits in the 10th, failing to retire any of the last five hitters he faced after setting down two of the first three men he faced, including Pirates star Andrew McCutchen, who fanned three times as his hitting streak ended at 18 games.

The final hit, the game-winner, was by eighth-place hitter Gregory Polanco, whom the Cardinals couldn’t retire all night. Polanco had three hits and drove in two runs. On one occasion when the Cardinals intentionally walked Polanco, Francisco Liriano, an .057 hitter, knocked in two runs with a single.

“I put Rosey in a tough spot,” said Matheny. “He worked hard last night and I knew he wasn’t going to have his very best stuff. But we needed to go with our best shot. You’ve got to let him do it with his ‘less than best.’

“Tough one.”

Jason Heyward said Matheny’s message that two games doth not a season make was received loud and clear.

“It was well put,” said Heyward. “That’s the mindset I had, too. It’s a long season. It’s not won or lost right now.

“We had a blast competing. It was a fun series against this team.”

Five of the 10 games played between the teams have gone into extra innings, with the home team walking off with victory every time. The Cardinals beat the Pirates in three straight extra-inning games in St. Louis in May.

Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer said, “The last two nights were amazing.”

And Heyward said he could see the packed houses having fun, too. “If they didn’t, then they don’t love baseball,” he said.

The Cardinals had only one hit in 11 at-bats, Grichuk’s double, with a man in scoring position Sunday, and were two for 23 in that department for the last two nights.

After rookie Sam Tuivailala blew through the Pirates for the second night in a row, working a perfect ninth, fanning two, the Cardinals broke through in the 10th.

Jhonny Peralta had three hits, including his 13th homer, a third-inning drive off Liriano, and his single started the 10th inning rally. Heyward also singled with Peralta, who had to hold up on a liner, barely reaching second ahead of Starling Marte’s throw.

Yadier Molina, after fouling off two attempts, dribbled a ball toward Mercer, who flipped to second for a forceout, but a flying Molina barely beat second baseman Neil Walker’s relay to first.

Mark Reynolds was hit in the left forearm by Caminero to load the bases and Grichuk found the right-center-field gap. Pinch runner Pete Kozma and Molina scored but Reynolds was thrown out at the plate, which turned out to be a key play.

“Who would have thought?” said Matheny.

But Marte singled home a run in the home in 10th after Walker narrowly had missed a home run to deep center.

Then Rosenthal had to face Jung Ho Kang, who had had two key hits off the righthander this season, including one Saturday. Kang singled to center, putting the tying and winning runs on base and bringing Matheny to the mound for a pat on the backside for Rosenthal.

But Francisco Cervelli smoked a single over the first-base bag and the game was tied again at 5-5. Briefly. Rosenthal had suffered his second blown save, both at the hands of the Pirates.

Now, before fans think about stepping out onto that proverbial ledge, they should consider that there is a big schedule switch beginning Friday after the All-Star break.

The Pirates, who have won just two more than they’ve lost on the road this year, will play 12 of their next 16 games away from home, with the four at PNC Park against Eastern Division leader Washington. Meanwhile, the Cardinals, the best home team in the majors at 31-11, will have 14 of the next 16 at home, with the two road games against the Chicago White Sox, where a well-rested Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez tentatively are slated to pitch.

Be that as it may, though, there is a race going on.

Matheny, asked if at the beginning of April, he would have taken a 2 1/2-game lead into the All-Star break, didn’t take the bait.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” he said. “I don’t put limitations on us.”