It was just one game, and both teams had a day off Tuesday to digest and dissect, but it would be understandable if the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates were still looking back just a little when they meet Wednesday.
Monday’s series opener — and Pirates home opener — was the sort of game that can linger.
Pittsburgh got a strong start from Chris Archer, who threw five scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, while Cardinals veteran Adam Wainwright struggled with control and gave up four runs in four innings.
But the tables turned. St. Louis erased a four-run deficit to tie it, fell behind by a run, tied it again, then won in 11 innings 6-5.
“The offense scratched and clawed,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “I mean, what do you say about that kind of game? It’s crazy.
“That’s what this team does. It speaks to the competitiveness of this team and the desire of this team. This is a good team with a lot of character and a lot of fight to it.”
St. Louis won despite striking out 17 times, a day after Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes struck out 12 against the Cardinals.
The Cardinals even had to use catcher Yadier Molina at third base for the first time in his career after Matt Carpenter got ejected.
“It just goes to show what kind of team we have,” St. Louis second baseman Kolten Wong said. “We’re not going to give up. We’ve been like that since I’ve been with the Cardinals. We fight to the very end.”
The Pirates’ Archer came away impressed with the division rival.
“I think it’s going to be like that all year with the Cardinals,” Archer said. “They’re a good ballclub. Made some nice (offseason) additions. We’re a good ballclub, too. Our margin for error is small. We can’t make mistakes, whether it be on the offensive side, defensive side.”
Archer added that the slight margin of error doesn’t have to be a negative.
“I don’t think our guys are playing tight,” he said.
Pitching has widely been pegged as Pittsburgh’s strength, but after Archer’s solid start Monday, the Pirates used eight relievers who allowed six runs to waste that early 4-0 lead and a five-run game from a team whose offense has been labeled as suspect.
“It’s a really small sample size,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of his bullpen. “We’ll keep pushing them out there and give them opportunities to build some consistency and some continuity. I’ve got a lot of confidence in them.”
On Wednesday, St. Louis right-hander Miles Mikolas (0-1, 9.00 ERA) is scheduled to face Pittsburgh right-hander Jameson Taillon (0-1, 6.00 ERA).
Mikolas gave up five hits and five runs in five innings Thursday at Milwaukee.
Mikolas is 2-2 with a 2.67 ERA in seven career appearances against Pittsburgh, five of them starts, with 29 strikeouts and five walks in 33 2/3 innings.
In two career starts at PNC Park, he is 0-0 with a 4.15 ERA.
Taillon went a little longer Thursday at Cincinnati but with similar results. He gave up six hits and four earned runs in six innings.
In his career against the Cardinals, Taillon is 3-1 with a 3.42 ERA in eight starts, with 46 strikeouts and 11 walks.