ST. LOUIS (AP) – Another young arm put a smile on Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle’s face.
Tyler Glasnow didn’t let a rough finish spoil his debut, working into the sixth inning of a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday that ended the Pirates’ seven-game winning streak.
“I was more excited than I was nervous,” the 22-year-old right-hander said. “Looking back, it was a fun time.”
Hurdle thought the 6-foot-8 Glasnow showed plenty of poise coming off a dominant season at Triple-A Toledo. He’s 7-2 with a 1.78 ERA overall and was 3-0 with a 0.79 ERA in six June starts.
“The first inning has got to be the toughest inning for anybody and he pushed through that,” Hurdle said. “The second inning, I thought he found his form and his rhythm.”
The two most damaging hits Glasnow allowed, a triple off the left field wall by Aledmys Diaz in the fourth and Randal Grichuk’s homer in the fifth, came on hanging curves.
“I thought it was a very, very solid debut,” Hurdle said. “I was proud of him.”
Glasnow, who was charged with four runs in 5 1/3 innings, was the 11th starter used by the Pirates and the fourth rookie. Like fellow rookie Steven Brault earlier in the series, he got his first career hit.
Glasnow got a kick out of frequent TV shots of his family, too.
“They kept panning toward them and it was kind of funny to see,” Glasnow said. “I really hope they had a good time.”
Two inherited runners scored when Stephen Piscotty greeted Arquimedes Caminero with a three-run homer in the sixth. Piscotty’s 11th homer, a drive just over the top of the center-field wall, was initially ruled in play but the call was overturned after review.
Adam Wainwright (8-5) worked seven effective innings for St. Louis, which reclaimed second place in the NL Central by a half-game over Pittsburgh to end a rough 4-5 homestand. All-Star Matt Carpenter (oblique) joined Brandon Moss (ankle) and Brayan Pena (knee) on the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day.
Jordy Mercer doubled and had an RBI for the Pirates, who had come from behind to win the previous six games. They haven’t swept a four-game series in St. Louis since 1997 and the Cardinals haven’t been swept in four games at home by anyone since Colorado in 2009.
“They have a great lineup, they have guys that work counts, so you knew you had to be ahead and get the ball on the ground early,” Wainwright said. “I was clicking.”
Diaz, named an All-Star earlier in the day to replace Carpenter, scored on a wild pitch to tie it in the fourth. Grichuk’s first homer since June 12 gave the Cardinals the lead for good in the fifth.
