Pirates open road trip with 8-2 victory against Cardinals

Misery shifted sides and moved into the St. Louis Cardinals dugout Thursday night at Busch Stadium.

The escorts for the evening were named Adam Frazier, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds and Chad Kuhl, and they were largely — almost solely — responsible for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 8-2 victory, their fourth in the past six games.

“Good team victory there,” manager Derek Shelton said.

After losing 10 in a row earlier this month, the Pirates (27-46) triggered three milestones against the Cardinals, who have lost six times in the past seven games.

• The victory broke the Pirates’ nine-game losing streak against the Cardinals (36-39) dating to last season.

• It was their first road victory since May 20 (11 in a row).

• It was the team’s largest margin of victory in St. Louis in seven years.

Frazier, Hayes and Reynolds bat 1-2-3 in the Pirates’ order, and they scored six of the Pirates’ eight runs and collected eight of the Pirates’ 12 hits. Put another way: One-third of the starting lineup had three-fourths of the team’s runs and two-thirds of its hits. But don’t forget Phillip Evans’ first career pinch-hit home run that also contributed to the runaway victory.

Frazier and Reynolds, the team’s only .300 hitters, crafted strange, but similar, stat lines. Both had three hits in four at-bats, including a home run and infield single, and each player grounded into a double play and walked.

Hayes, who has reached base safely in his past 28 games dating to last season, added two singles, walked and scored two runs.

“They really put together consistent at-bats,” Shelton said. “We need to continue to work with the bottom (of the order) to get those opportunities for the guys at the top.”

Reynolds was Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez’s biggest antagonist. He drove in four runs, increasing his season RBI total to 42. His 13th home run — a three-run shot — left the bat at 106.1 mph and landed 404 feet from home plate in the fourth inning.

“I don’t know how he hit that down-and-away changeup out,” Frazier said, “but it was pretty impressive. He’s a really good player, and I’m happy to be on the same team as him.”

Martinez, who allowed 25 runs on 26 hits in his previous four starts, lasted five innings and allowed five runs, five hits and a career-high seven walks. In the first inning, he walked two batters among his 32 pitches. He gave up singles to Hayes and Reynolds, who extended his hitting streak to nine games.

The Pirates failed to cash an opportunity in the third when Martinez walked three batters (intentionally to Gregory Polanco, who is hitting .438 against the Cardinals’ starter). With the bases loaded and one out, Kevin Newman and Ben Gamel swung at the first pitch and flied out to center field and right field.

The production at the top of the order is an encouraging sign as the Pirates approach the second half of the season and hope to achieve respectability later this summer. But getting six solid innings from Kuhl (2-4), the starting and winning pitcher, is just as significant. Kuhl pitched six innings for the third time in his past four starts.

With two double plays behind him, he threw 93 pitches and surrendered only three hits and three walks. Occasionally, Kuhl lost control, throwing several pitches wide, high or too close to the batter. Yet, he always recovered to finish either the batter or the inning.

“It’s just one of those things where I made a commitment. Out of 100 pitches, how many can I execute?” he said. “If I don’t execute the one, hit the reset button and move on and execute the next one. It’s really just about resetting after every pitch. Forget about the last one. Just keep moving forward.”

That mindset has worked for Kuhl the past two starts when he has pitched 12 innings while giving up only seven hits and two runs. His efforts have dropped his ERA from a season-high 6.52 on June 12 to 5.05 after defeating the Cardinals.

“He’s staying more focused,” Shelton said. “At times, when we saw him throw a bad pitch, it affected two or three pitches. Now, if he throws a pitch he doesn’t want to, he comes back and executes the next pitch. That’s a sign of getting better and maturation.”