PITTSBURGH (AP) – Juan Nicasio pitched six dominant innings in his Pittsburgh debut and Francisco Cevelli hit a two-run double as the Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 Wednesday night to sweep an opening three-game series between the teams with the best regular-season records in the major leagues last year.
Nicasio gave up one run and two hits while striking out seven and walking none. Signed to a $3 million, one-year contract as a free agent in the offseason, Nicasio pitched 15 scoreless innings during spring training with 24 strikeouts.
Cervelli’s two-run double capped a three-run fourth inning that pushed the Pirates’ lead to 4-0 and ended the Cardinals debut of Mike Leake (0-1), who signed an $80 million, five-year contract. He allowed four runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Mark Melancon retired the only batter he faced for his first save, getting Kolten Wong to hit into a forceout with runners on first and second.
Pittsburgh, 3-0 for the first time since 2007, was 98-64 last season but finished two games behind the Cardinals (100-62) in the NL Central and lost to the Chicago Cubs in the NL wild-card game.
Leake walked Gregory Polanco with the baases-loaded during a 42-pitch first inning. Before Cervelli’s double, John Jaso led off the fourth with a triple and continued home on an errant relay throw by Wong from second.
Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte had two hits each for the Pirates.
St. Louis rookie Jeremy Hazlebaker hit his first career home run leading off the sixth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: LHP Marco Gonzales, a first-round draft pick in 2013, will begin the season on the disabled list at Triple-A Memphis with elbow discomfort. He is expected to get a second option with a visit to orthopedist Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Thursday or Friday in Los Angeles. Gonzales pitched in 11 games for the Cardinals over the last two seasons, six of which were starts, and was 4-2 with a 4.82 ERA.
Pirates: 3B Jung Ho Kang (recovering from reconstructive left knee surgery) played five innings Wednesday in a minor league intrasquad game in Bradenton, Florida, and had four at-bats, though he was limited to running only to first base. . RHP Jared Hughes (strained left lat) threw off the slope of the mound at Bradenton and is expected to throw off the top of the mound in the next few days.
