MLB playoffs: Beltran's HR keys Cards' rout of Pirates in Game 1

St. Louis • Carlos Beltran, Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals gave Pittsburgh a quick reality jolt.

Beltran's three-run homer sparked a seven-run third inning Thursday and the Cardinals got seven stingy innings from Wainwright to open their NL division series with a 9-1 rout of the Pirates.

"To be able to get out on a good first step and play well today I think is big for our guys confidence-wise," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "Gives us an opportunity to just take some momentum, and momentum is big right now when you talk about a five-game series."

The first eight Cardinals reached safely in the third to chase A.J. Burnett, saddling the right-hander with the second-shortest outing of his career and putting Game 1 out of reach early.

A sellout crowd roared and then settled in for an easy victory by the NL Central champions, making their third consecutive trip to the postseason.

"Game 164 was rough," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "One of the things we've been good at is we don't overcook things."

Lance Lynn (15-10) faces Pittsburgh rookie Gerrit Cole (10-7) in Game 2.

After a record 20 straight losing seasons, the Pirates are back in the playoffs for the first time since 1992. They entered their first best-of-five division series with plenty of momentum after beating Cincinnati in the wild-card game Tuesday, but Pittsburgh never threatened to rally against Wainwright and finished with only four hits.

Pittsburgh also was sloppy in the field, committing three errors.

Wainwright remained unbeaten in the postseason, going to 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA in 14 games, five of them starts. He allowed a run on three hits in seven innings. —

Cardinals 9, Pirates 1

Pittsburgh AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

S.Marte lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .000

N.Walker 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000

McCutchen cf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .500

Morneau 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .250

Byrd rf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .000

P.Alvarez 3b 3 1 1 1 0 1 .333

R.Martin c 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Barmes ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000

b-Tabata ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Morris p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

A.J.Burnett p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000

J.Gomez p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Mazzaro p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

c-Mercer ph-ss 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Totals 31 1 4 1 0 11

St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

M.Carpenter 2b 5 1 1 0 0 0 .200

Beltran rf 5 1 1 3 0 0 .200

Holliday lf 4 1 2 0 1 0 .500

Ma.Adams 1b 3 2 1 0 1 1 .333

Y.Molina c 3 1 2 0 1 0 .667

Jay cf 2 2 1 1 2 0 .500

Freese 3b 4 0 2 2 0 1 .500

Kozma ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

Descalso ss-3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Wainwright p 1 1 0 0 1 0 .000

a-Wong ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Ca.Martinez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

Rosenthal p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

Totals 32 9 10 6 6 2

Pittsburgh 000 010 000 — 1 4 3

St. Louis 007 011 00x — 9 10 0

a-grounded out for Wainwright in the 7th. b-grounded out for Barmes in the 8th. c-struck out for Mazzaro in the 8th.

E—Byrd (1), Barmes (1), McCutchen (1).

LOB—Pittsburgh 3, St. Louis 7. 2B—Holliday (1), Y.Molina (1). HR—P.Alvarez (1), off Wainwright Beltran (1), off A.J.Burnett. RBIs—P.Alvarez (1), Beltran 3 (3), Jay (1), Freese 2 (2). S—Wainwright.

Runners left in scoring position—Pittsburgh 1 (Byrd) St. Louis 4 (Descalso, M.Carpenter 2, Jay). RISP—Pittsburgh 0 for 1 St. Louis 2 for 10.

Runners moved up—Descalso. GIDP—Descalso.

DP—Pittsburgh 1 (Barmes, Morneau).

Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO ERA

A.J.Brntt L, 0-1 2 6 7 7 4 0 31.50

J.Gomez 4 3 2 0 2 0 0.00

Mazzaro 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.00

Morris 1 1 0 0 0 1 0.00

St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Wnwrt W, 1-0 7 3 1 1 0 9 1.29

Ca.Martinez 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.00

Rosenthal 1 1 0 0 0 1 0.00

A.J.Burnett pitched to 8 batters in the 3rd.

Inherited runners-scored—J.Gomez 1-0. HBP—by A.J.Burnett (Ma.Adams).

Umpires—Home, Tony Randazzo First, Wally Bell Second, Jerry Layne Third, Sam Holbrook Right, Paul Nauert Left, Jim Joyce.

T—2:57. A—45,693 (43,975).