Alec Burleson hit a walk-off solo homer with two outs in the ninth to lift the St. Louis Cardinals past the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6 Monday night.
Burleson was 4-for-5 with two runs scored for the Cardinals. Willson Contreras drove in two runs before home plate umpire Derek Thomas ejected him in the seventh inning for protesting a called third strike.
After teammates pulled an enraged Contreras off the field, Thomas also ejected Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol. Along the way a bucket of chewing gum was tossed onto the field from the Cardinals dugout.
St. Louis starter Michael McGreevy allowed four runs on six hits in six innings while striking out seven and walking two. Reliever Riley O’Brien (2-0) earned the victory after blowing the save in the top of the ninth.
Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer and Spencer Horwitz had a homer and two RBIs for the Pirates, whose four-game winning streak ended.
Pittsburgh starter Johan Oviedo held the Cardinals to one run on three hits in four innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Reliever Dennis Santana (4-5) took the loss by allowing Burleson’s 409-foot blast.
The Pirates moved ahead 1-0 in the first on Ronny Simon’s single, Reynolds’ ground-rule double, and Horwitz’s RBI groundout.
The Cardinals tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the inning as Nolan Gorman walked, Thomas Saggese and Jordan Walker followed with singles and Nathan Church hit a sacrifice fly.
Pittsburgh took a 4-1 lead in the third on a single by Nick Gonzales, Reynolds’ two-run homer and Horwitz’s solo blast.
The Cardinals rallied for five with two outs in the fifth to seize a 6-4 lead. Church hit a single and eventually scored on Masyn Winn’s single. After Burleson hit a ground-rule double, Contreras’ two-run single, Gorman’s RBI double and Saggese’s run-scoring single pushed St. Louis ahead.
Pittsburgh cut its deficit to 6-5 in the seventh on a walk to Jack Suwinski, Joey Bart’s single, and Gonzales’ sacrifice fly.
The Pirates tied the game 6-6 in the ninth. After Liover Peguero was hit by a pitch, he stole second base and scored on Simon’s double.
