ARCHIVE August 30, 2026
August 30, 2026 · NL Cent

Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals

August 30, 2026Busch StadiumSunny 92°F · 9 mph, Out To LF
AWAY
Pittsburgh Pirates
67-71
5
vs
HOME
St. Louis Cardinals
68-70
4

Game Highlights

Published August 30, 2026 · Source: MLB

Scoring summary

INN BATTER PLAY SCORE
T2 Esmerlyn Valdez Esmerlyn Valdez homers (16) on a fly ball to right field. Brandon Lowe scores. PIT 2, STL 0
T3 Brandon Lowe Brandon Lowe reaches on a fielding error by third baseman Ramón Urías. Oneil Cruz scores. PIT 3, STL 0
T5 Jared Triolo Jared Triolo homers (3) on a fly ball to left field. PIT 4, STL 0
B5 Iván Herrera Iván Herrera singles on a sharp line drive to center fielder Jake Mangum. Thomas Saggese scores. Bryan Torres to 2nd. PIT 4, STL 1
B5 Alec Burleson Alec Burleson singles on a ground ball to right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez. Bryan Torres scores. Iván Herrera to 2nd. PIT 4, STL 2
T7 Brandon Lowe Brandon Lowe singles on a sharp line drive to left fielder Bryan Torres. Oneil Cruz scores. Rafael Flores Jr. to 2nd. PIT 5, STL 2
B7 Bryan Torres Bryan Torres out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Jake Mangum. Ramón Urías scores. PIT 5, STL 3
B7 Iván Herrera Iván Herrera doubles (24) on a fly ball to left fielder Bryan Reynolds. Thomas Saggese scores. PIT 5, STL 4

Box score

  123456789 R
PIT 021010100 5
STL 000020200 4

Pitching & bullpen

How the game was pitched — the starters, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role, and the pitch counts behind them.

Pirates AWAY 5

Braxton Ashcraft started for Pirates, leaving with a 4–2 lead. Out of the bullpen, Camilo Doval took the roughest line.

workload · innings pitched
  • Braxton Ashcraft Starter 5.0 71 2 3 W
    Pitch-by-pitch: what Braxton Ashcraft threw
    CSW 32% 1st-pitch strike 64% 3.2 pitches/PA
    Pitch#%WhiffCSFoulBallIn play
    Sinker 21 30% 2 8 2 5 4
    Curveball 20 28% 3 4 2 7 4
    Four-Seam Fastball 16 23% 0 4 3 4 5
    Slider 12 17% 2 0 1 4 5
    Splitter 2 3% 0 0 1 1 0
  • Kirby Yates Middle 1.0 8 0 1 HLD
  • Camilo Doval Middle 0.2 19 2 1 HLD
  • Yohan Ramírez Middle 0.1 6 0 0 HLD inherited 2, stranded 2
  • Luke Weaver Setup 1.0 10 0 1 HLD
  • Mason Montgomery Middle 1.0 11 0 0 SV
Cardinals HOME 4

Matthew Liberatore started for Cardinals, leaving trailing 2–4. Out of the bullpen, Luis Gastelum took the roughest line.

workload · innings pitched
  • Matthew Liberatore Starter 5.2 107 4 9 L
    Pitch-by-pitch: what Matthew Liberatore threw
    CSW 33% 1st-pitch strike 54% 4.1 pitches/PA
    Pitch#%WhiffCSFoulBallIn play
    Slider 45 42% 7 9 8 15 6
    Four-Seam Fastball 28 26% 2 7 1 11 7
    Curveball 20 19% 3 3 4 10 0
    Cutter 4 4% 0 1 0 3 0
    Sinker 4 4% 1 1 1 1 0
    Changeup 3 3% 0 0 0 2 1
    Sweeper 3 3% 1 0 1 0 1
  • Ryne Stanek Setup 0.1 5 0 1 inherited 1, stranded 1
  • Luis Gastelum Middle 1.0 26 1 2
  • Gordon Graceffo Middle 2.0 34 0 3

Where the game turned

2 runs Top 2nd · off Liberatore
  • Valdez HR (2)

Batting lines

AWAY · PIT
BATTER ABRHRBIBBK AVGOBPSLGOPS NOTES
Jared Triolo SS 4 1 1 1 1 2 .247 .320 .319 .639 HR (3)
Oneil Cruz DH 4 2 1 0 1 1 .263 .351 .484 .835 2B, 2 SB
Bryan Reynolds LF 5 0 2 0 0 2 .262 .369 .421 .790
Rafael Flores Jr. C 4 0 0 0 1 2 .222 .308 .519 .827
Brandon Lowe 2B 4 1 2 1 0 1 .251 .320 .476 .796 2B
Jake Mangum RF 4 0 1 0 0 2 .287 .343 .373 .716
Spencer Horwitz 1B 3 0 0 0 1 1 .247 .349 .383 .732
Nick Yorke 3B 4 0 0 0 0 3 .206 .268 .275 .543
Esmerlyn Valdez RF 4 1 1 2 0 1 .244 .355 .535 .890 HR (16)
HOME · STL
BATTER ABRHRBIBBK AVGOBPSLGOPS NOTES
Joshua Báez PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 .167 .220 .481 .701
Iván Herrera C 5 0 2 2 0 0 .243 .358 .375 .733 2B, SB
Alec Burleson 1B 4 0 1 1 1 0 .288 .353 .476 .829 SB
Jordan Walker RF 4 0 0 0 0 2 .285 .343 .496 .839
Nolan Gorman DH 4 0 0 0 0 0 .187 .270 .320 .590
José Fermín 2B 4 0 1 0 0 1 .240 .306 .356 .662
Nathan Church CF 4 0 0 0 0 1 .239 .283 .366 .649
Ramón Urías 3B 3 1 0 0 1 2 .151 .267 .315 .582
Thomas Saggese SS 4 2 3 0 0 0 .210 .264 .296 .560
Bryan Torres LF 2 1 2 1 1 0 .264 .324 .400 .724

Pitching lines

AWAY · PIT
PITCHER IPHRERBBKHR NPERA DEC
Braxton Ashcraft 5.0 6 2 2 1 3 0 71 3.59 W
Kirby Yates 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 8 3.40 HLD
Camilo Doval 0.2 2 2 2 2 1 0 19 4.13 HLD
Yohan Ramírez 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3.10 HLD
Luke Weaver 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 10 2.26 HLD
Mason Montgomery 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 3.07 SV
HOME · STL
PITCHER IPHRERBBKHR NPERA DEC
Matthew Liberatore 5.2 6 4 3 2 9 2 107 5.41 L
Ryne Stanek 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 4.39
Luis Gastelum 1.0 1 1 1 2 2 0 26 5.04
Gordon Graceffo 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 0 34 2.90

Manager comparison

AWAY · PIT
Don Kelly
Don Kelly
Lineup 4.4 R Bunts 0.9 R IBBs 3.6 R
HOME · STL
Oliver Marmol
Oliver Marmol
Lineup 3.7 R Bunts 2.6 R IBBs 3.1 R

Recent form

AWAY · PIT
6-4 W4 -5 run diff
WWWWLLWLLW
HOME · STL
4-6 W1 -12 run diff
WLLLLWWLWL

Season series: 2-1 with PIT listed first across 3 prior meetings.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. The pitching analysis describes how the game was pitched — the starter's line, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role (opener, bulk, setup, closer), pitch counts as a fatigue signal, and the leverage context where the game turned. Reliever roles are inferred from how the manager used each arm up to that date. It describes structure and constraints; it does not grade the manager.

Read the full methodology.

← All matchups