It took until the final day of the month for the Pittsburgh Pirates to emerge victorious from a series in May.
It took them just days to capture a series win in June.
The Pirates (30-27) overcame a 60-minute rain delay and used eight pitchers to hold off the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3, on Saturday at PNC Park.
With the win, the Pirates remain a half-game behind Milwaukee (31-27) for first place in the NL Central.
The rain delay, beginning in the top of the third, prompted manager Derek Shelton to yank starter Luis Ortiz after two innings. From there, the bullpen managed to preserve the lead.
Shelton turned to seven relievers: Angel Perdomo, Yerry De Los Santos, Jose Hernandez, Dauri Moreta, Colin Holderman, Yohan Ramirez and David Bednar.
Moreta (3-1, 1.69 ERA) earned the win, pitching 12⁄3 innings.
“Losing the starter because of the rain delay, they just continued to push through,” Shelton said of the bullpen’s effort. “They just continued to go and kind of fed off each other.”
The Cardinals’ pair of runs in the eighth, by way of Nolan Gorman’s two-run homer over the Clemente Wall, off the usually steady Holderman turned the game into a nail-biter.
But Ramirez closed out the eighth, and Bednar allowed just one hit in the ninth to notch his 12th save and secure the Pirates’ fourth win in a row.
Connor Joe hit a two-run double in the sixth and later scored on a Carlos Santana bloop single into right field.
That made it 4-1.
With Ortiz (1-2, 4.37 ERA) on the mound, St. Louis’ Willson Contreras launched a solo home run in the second inning for the game’s first run. The Pirates answered in the fifth when Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a solo shot to tie the score.
Hayes, who crushed a three-run homer Friday, came through offensively for the second straight night, as did Santana.
While the Cardinals let their starter, Jordan Montgomery, take the mound after the rain delay, Shelton opted to end Ortiz’s afternoon, with the 24-year-old taking a no-decision.
“We’re in a different situation,” Shelton said. “Montgomery is a veteran guy and has an idea of what he’s doing — that’s not to say (Ortiz) doesn’t, but (Ortiz) is going to be a starter here for a long time.
“So if we’re going to err there, we’re going to err on the side of caution (to make) sure that he’s OK and doesn’t get hurt.”
The home run Holderman allowed was the bullpen’s primary blemish.
Perdomo, De Los Santos, Hernandez, Moreta, Ramirez and Bednar threw a combined 62⁄3 innings, allowing three hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
Perdomo and De Los Santos had been called up from Triple-A Indianapolis hours before first pitch.
Perdomo was the first man out of the bullpen and gave the Pirates 21⁄3 innings of shutout baseball, allowing no hits and striking out three.
The 6-foot-8, 29-year-old made his first MLB appearance since August 2021, when he was with the Milwaukee Brewers.
“I was a starter before. I have no problem going multiple innings,” he said. “The key is to establish my fastball, and my slider will work off of that. If that fastball is working that night, the slider is most likely going to be working, too.”
De Los Santos replaced Perdomo in the fifth, recording the final two outs before Shelton inserted Hernandez.
Nolan Arenado, who has captured the NL Gold Glove for 10 straight seasons, made an uncharacteristic error in the sixth, allowing Mark Mathias to reach base.
Shelton pinch-ran Ji Hwan Bae for Mathias, and Jason Delay moved him to second on a sacrifice bunt.
After Andrew McCutchen grounded out and Bryan Reynolds walked, Joe ripped a two-out, two-run double off the right-field wall, chasing Montgomery.
Tucupita Marcano (2 for 3) and Rodolfo Castro (2 for 4) produced the only multi-hit performances for the Pirates.
McCutchen went 0 for 4 and remains at 1,997 career hits.
