Hurdle: What, me worry?
ST. LOUIS — The Pirates lost seven games by at least eight runs during the regular season and went 4-3 in the games immediately following.
“What we’ve been good at is just moving on,” Hurdle said. “We knew coming in we had to find a way to win a game here. Didn’t win today. We’re really good at dealing with the reality of the situation. We didn’t play a good game. We didn’t play well enough to win. We didn’t do the things we needed to do.”
It was the Pirates’ worst loss to open a postseason series since losing 8-3 at Cincinnati in the 1975 National League Championship Series.
n The Pirates’ one highlight was third baseman Pedro Alvarez’s home run off Adam Wainwright on the first pitch of the fifth inning. The ball traveled 437 feet and banged off the facade of the second deck in right field.
It was the first home run by a Pirates third baseman in the postseason since Bill Madlock connected off Cincinnati’s Fred Norman in the 1979 NLCS.
“That’s probably one of the better ones I’ve ever given up,” Wainwright said. “Tip your hat. He crushed it. That’s what good hitters do. They hit terrible pitches and I left a fluttering changeup in the middle of the plate.”
n A.J. Burnett lasted just two-plus innings as he gave up seven hits. It was the shortest start by a Pirates pitcher in a postseason game since John Smiley got just two outs in losing Game 7 of the 1991 NLCS to Atlanta.
n Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said Joe Kelly (10-5, 2.69 in the regular season) will start Sunday in Game 3 against Pirates left-hander Francisco Liriano (16-8, 3.02) at PNC Park. Major League Baseball has set the game time for 4:37 p.m.