Pirates' Bryan Reynolds Hits Inside-The-Park Homer Against St. Louis Cardinals
On back-to-back nights, the St. Louis Cardinals debuted two of their top prospects. Friday night saw Nolan Gorman take the field and Saturday saw starter Matthew Liberatore take the mound.
Liberatore, a former first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays, came into the game as MLB's No. 39 overall prospect.
While he's brought with him plenty of hype and promise, the Pittsburgh Pirates and outfielder Bryan Reynolds specifically, have spoiled the party.
It was the first inside-the-park home run for the Pirates in 2022 and the first of Reynolds' career. Not only that, but it was a stand-up inside-the-parker for the 2021 NL All-Star.
Pittsburgh has been playing near-.500 baseball this season and at home, the Pirates are 9-11.
Reynolds, in particular, is now up to five home runs on the year and already on Saturday, has his third multi-hit game in a row.
When it comes to hitting, Reynolds is the engine that makes this Pirates team run, as she showed last season, hitting .302/.390/.522.
While it's unlikely that Pittsburgh will be competing for a postseason spot, having a potent offense with a big-time leader is going to help make that more of a possibility.
Liberatore gave up four runs in 4.2 innings of work, surrendering seven hits against the Pirates.
Pittsburgh's bullpen has kept them in the game as the combination of Duane Underwood Jr. and Wil Crowe threw three one-hit innings on the mound after Jose Quintana struggled in his start.
The Pirates are 1-3 against St. Louis this season and with a win, will improve to 17-22 on the season and 3.5 games out of second place.
