The St. Louis Cardinals handed the Pittsburgh Pirates a 5-1 defeat at PNC Park on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, with left-hander Matthew Liberatore dealing one of the cleaner pitching performances of the night. Brandon Lowe supplied Pittsburgh's only damage with a solo home run, but it wasn't nearly enough as St. Louis pulled away in a division matchup that the Bucs never really controlled. The Cardinals overcame a one-run deficit to win going away, finishing with a four-run margin that tells the story plainly.
Matthew Liberatore Limits Pirates to One Run Over 5.2 Innings
Liberatore was the difference-maker on the mound. The Cardinals left-hander worked 5.2 innings, scattered six hits, issued zero walks, and struck out six. When Pittsburgh had chances to do damage, Liberatore made the key pitches to escape. That kind of command — no free passes over nearly six innings — is exactly the type of outing that beats a lineup trying to string things together.
St. Louis deployed a clean bullpen behind him. Luis Gastelum covered 1.1 innings without allowing a hit or a walk. Ryne Stanek added a scoreless inning with a strikeout. George Soriano closed it out with two punchouts in the ninth, scattering a walk but keeping the board clean. The Cardinals' pitching staff combined to allow just one run on the night.
Pirates' Bullpen Breaks Down in Loss
Pittsburgh pieced together a bullpen game, and the results were uneven. Khristian Curtis went 3.2 innings, gave up five hits, walked one, and surrendered two earned runs. The critical blow came from Brandon Eisert, who faced the Cardinals in 0.2 innings and allowed three earned runs on two hits and a walk — that stretch effectively turned a manageable game into a blowout. Brandon Eisert was tagged with the loss.
There were bright spots. Antwone Kelly was sharp, firing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed. Kirby Yates added a clean ninth-inning frame with a strikeout. Lake Bachar also kept the Cardinals off the board in his 1.2 innings of work, punching out two. But the damage was already done by the time the back-end arms came in.
Brandon Lowe Provides Pittsburgh's Only Offense
Lowe was the one Pirate who gave PNC Park something to cheer about. He went 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI, accounting for Pittsburgh's lone run on the night. Ryan O'Hearn also reached base twice, going 2-for-3, but the Pirates couldn't convert those opportunities into runs against a Cardinals pitching staff that was dialed in from the first pitch.
Pittsburgh's inability to capitalize when they had runners on base was the theme of the night. Six hits as a team but only one run scored is a recipe for a loss, and that's exactly what happened.
Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt Leads St. Louis Offense
On the other side, JJ Wetherholt went 3-for-4 with an RBI to pace the Cardinals' attack. José Fermín chipped in with a 2-for-4 night. St. Louis manufactured enough offense against a patchwork Pittsburgh pitching staff to build a cushion that their bullpen had no trouble protecting.
What's Next for the Pirates
Pittsburgh drops this division matchup and will need to regroup quickly. The schedule continues with more regular season action as the 2026 campaign winds toward its final days. For the Bucs to close out the year on a stronger note, the starting pitching situation needs clarity and the offense has to find a way to be more productive with runners on base. One Brandon Lowe home run is not going to cut it against a Cardinals club that brought a complete game to PNC Park on Wednesday night.
