Tommy Pham hit a two-run single in the sixth inning to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.
The highly-touted Bubba Chandler (1-0) pitched four scoreless innings of relief of starter Carmen Mlodzinski for his first win in his second major league game. The 6-foot-3 right-hander allowed one hit, struck out three and walked one.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled leading off the sixth against Sonny Gray (12-7). Jared Triolo walked and Spencer Horwitz reached on a throwing error by first baseman Willson Contreras to load the bases. Gray retired Bryan Reynolds on a forceout at home before Pham hit the next pitch up the middle.
Isaac Mattson pitched a scoreless eighth for Pittsburgh and Dennis Santana finished for his 10th save in 12 opportunities.
The Pirates won two straight games on the road for the first time since a three-game sweep over the Giants to close out July.
Pirates RHP Braxton Ashcraft (4-2, 2.70 ERA) starts Thursday’s series finale opposite Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (6-10, 5.17).
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