It was an ugly start to the NLDS for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and they needed someone to step up to get them level with St. Louis in the best-of-five NLDS.
That man was Gerrit Cole, who pitched six innings of two-hit baseball to shut down the hot-swinging Cardinals this afternoon, while also opening the scoring with a RBI single in the second inning, all of which helped the Pirates to a 7-1 win.
Former Twin Justin Morneau had a nice day at the plate, putting up two hits and scoring twice, while Starling Marte and Pedro Alvarez, who shared the NL home-run crown, both went deep for Pittsburgh.
The series now swings to PNC Park where the Pirates have a chance to advance to the next round with two wins. Slated to pitch Sunday for Pittsburgh in their attempt to take the series lead is former Twin Francisco Liriano, who put up the biggest start of his career Monday to get the Pirates past Cincinnati and to this division series they have a chance to lock up at home.
