PITTSBURGH •
PITTSBURGH _ The Cardinals had a chance for a victory of sorts Friday night. A win over the Pittsburgh Pirates would elevate them to undisputed possession of second base in the National League Central Division for the first time since April 24, albeit nine games behind the Chicago Cubs.
And Michael Wacha, who had entered the night with eight winless starts in succession, scored a victory of sorts by permitting just two runs over seven innings before coming out of the game.
But “sort of” victories weren’t going to get it done, that is, until Matt Carpenter took his first at-bat against an old Cardinals friend from the 2011 World Series, former Texas Rangers reliever Neftali Feliz.