Fowler, Leake Lead Cardinals Past Marte-less Pirates 2-1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Dexter Fowler tripled and scored, Mike Leake pitched into the seventh inning and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Pittsburgh 2-1 on Tuesday night after Pirates outfielder Starling Marte was suspended 80 games for a banned substance earlier in the day.
Seung Hwan Oh allowed three hits in the ninth but escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam for his second save.
Leake (2-1) allowed seven hits and only struck out one, but he held the Pirates to a run over 6 1/3 innings. He has won nine of his last 11 decisions against the Pirates dating to Sept. 11, 2012.
The Cardinals have won back-to-back games for the first time this season to improve to 5-9.
Chad Kuhl (1-1) gave up two runs over six innings. He allowed three hits and struck out three.
Marte was suspended by Major League Baseball after testing positive for Nandrolone. He's eligible to return in mid-July but won't be allowed to play in the postseason if Pittsburgh advances.
Andrew McCutchen played center field for the first time this season in Marte's absence and extended his hitting streak to nine games with a first-inning single. McCutchen was 2 for 4 and is hitting .333 (12 for 36) during his run.
Fowler led off the first with a triple to right and scored on Stephen Piscotty's ground out.
Greg Garcia's double in the fifth scored Jose Martinez to make it 2-0 Cardinals. Garcia was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.
Brett Cecil, Matt Bowman and Oh pitched scoreless relief for St. Louis. Bowman extended his scoreless streak to 17 1/3 innings dating to last season.
Adam Frazier scored the Pirates' run on a groundout by Gregory Polanco in the sixth.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle successfully challenged an out call on Jordy Mercer in the ninth. Mercer beat Oh to the bag and the review gave the Pirates bases loaded with just one out, but Oh threw out a runner at home on a ground ball and then got Frazier to fly out to left to end it.
TRAINING ROOM
Pirates: OF Jose Osuna was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to fill Marte's spot.
Cardinals: INF Matt Carpenter missed his second straight game after taking a batted ball off of his hand Sunday. Carpenter hopes to return Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (1-1, 5.29 ERA) is looking for his second straight win after a six-inning, two-run effort at Chicago on Friday. He is 5-3 with a 2.82 ERA in 10 career starts against St. Louis.
Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (1-1, 3.00 ERA) had a six-game winning streak snapped in his last outing. He is 3-2 with a 4.25 ERA in 11 career games against Pittsburgh.
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