For the first half of Sunday’s game, Cardinals rookie Lane Thomas almost made the most of his second start in the majors. He almost had a diving catch in center field to steal a double from a batting title contender. He almost outran a groundball for an infield single. He had an RBI triple that made him almost the go-ahead run.
This rare start was almost over when the Pirates almost made a routine catch, two teammates almost got beaned by pitches with two outs in the seventh inning and loaded the bases for Thomas. He almost missed a 2-2 slider, but nicked it enough to stay in the at-bat against Pittsburgh reliever Kyle Crick.