Pujols goes deep (twice), Pirates snap the five-game win streak

The Pirates five-game win streak was snapped by the Cardinals as they pounded on the Pirates in a 9-2 loss at PNC Park.

Brian Burres –who was 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his last three starts– was pulled after allowing four runs through 2.1 innings.

“He didn’t have much,” manager John Russell said. “When they start taking good swings off of him, that’s when you know he’s not really on. When he’s on, teams don’t swing the bat very well off of him. He had a couple hitters where he looked like he was getting it back, and he just couldn’t maintain it.”

Pujols hit two home runs in the game, the first coming off of Burres in the third inning after walking Schumaker on four straight balls.

“I got the head out, and it was good enough to go out of the park,” Pujols said. “It was a pretty good pitch, and I was able to stay inside the ball.”

Burres missed badly and quickly gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

“Farther in,” Burres said where he tried to locate the ball. “With him, you need to especially get your pitches to where they need to be. Obviously, I needed to execute that pitch a little better, and I didn’t.”

The pitching continued to spiral after Burres was knocked out early. Chan Ho Park, Sean Gallagher and Wil Ledezma all allowed at least one run in their innings of work.

“If you pitch well, you give yourself a chance,” Russell said. “You get down, it’s tough to scrape back. With a team like St. Louis … it’s tough to keep them at bay.”

The Pirates must win their final three games against the Astros starting Friday in order to finish the season .500 at home.