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Woodford, Cards' pen shut down Pirates in 3-0 win
ST. LOUIS — Jake Woodford and three relievers scattered eight hits, Nolan Gorman drove in two runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 on Friday night.
Woodford gave up seven hits in 5 1/3 innings but only one for extra bases, a double by Austin Hedges leading off the fifth. He retired the next three batters to escape that jam.
“I leaned on the sinker a lot,” Woodford said. “I let our defense work. They are unbelievable out there. I stayed in attack mode. That's something I definitely need to do.”
Zach Thompson (1-0) worked 1 2/3 innings, striking out four, Drew VerHagen was perfect in the eighth, and Giovanny Gallegos followed suit in the ninth for his first save.
“I know that my stuff plays here,” Thompson said. “There's not an ounce of doubt in my mind that I can land a pitch here. If I make a good pitch, chances are good things will happen.”
Johan Oveido (1-1) was outstanding for Pittsburgh, allowing one run in seven innings, striking out a career-high 10. Oviedo made 33 appearances and 19 starts for St. Louis over three seasons before being traded to the Pirates last year at the deadline for veteran left-hander Jose Quintana.
“We didn't get the results that we wanted but we'll come back tomorrow and try and get that ballgame,” Oviedo said. “I have a lot confidence in my secondary pitches. I would say the slider and the curveball. ... I didn't try and do too much. I just try to have fun.”
Nolan Arenado went 3-for-3 with a walk, and Gorman finished 3-for-4. Arenado hit a one-out single in the sixth and later scored on Gorman's single as St. Louis finally broke through against Oveido and ended a 14-inning scoring drought against Pittsburgh.
“He pitched really well,” Pirates manager John Shelton said. “He only gave up the one run. It was a good pitch. Gorman did a good job to get that ball into the outfield.”
St. Louis added two runs off reliever Duane Underwood Jr. in the eighth. Willson Contreras and Gorman both had RBI singles, with Contreras snapping a career-long hitless streak of 22 consecutive at-bats.
“That was good. He's been wanting that,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “Hopefully that jump-starts him. To see him come through was good. This is a guy that can really hit."