PITTSBURGH — Nick Gonzales hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning after Mitch Keller allowed one run in the first seven, and the Pittsburgh Pirates won for the seventh time in eight games, 2-1 over the St. Louis Cardinals in a matchup of NL wild card contenders on Monday night.
Bryan Reynolds led off the eighth with a single to left before advancing to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Gonzales sneaked a slow dribbler off John King (3-2) through the right side of the infield.
Gonzales hit a late-inning, go-ahead single for the second time in four games. He did it in the ninth inning against Philadelphia on Friday, giving the Pirates an 8-7 win.
''People that have the ability to slow their heartbeats down and hit in those situations, it's something that can't be taught,'' Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. "It's something that you have to do. I think we've got a couple guys that have it.''
Keller gave up six hits in seven innings, striking out three and walking two, before Aroldis Chapman (2-4) pitched a perfect eighth. David Bednar allowed a two-out single to Paul Goldschmidt in the ninth before striking out Nolan Gorman for his 18th save.
''Huge team win, especially against the Cardinals," Keller said. ''Every win's great but especially against a division rival. These are games we need to win.''
The Cardinals are second in the NL Central, one game ahead of the Pirates. They are in position for the second NL wild card, with Pittsburgh one-half game back of the third and final spot.
''That's why every decision, every pitch, every at-bat seems extremely magnified,'' St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. ''Because there is no room for error. The margins have been really thin all year. We've played a lot of these games, like the one we played tonight. Yeah, one ball in the dirt leads to the runner moving up and it just changes the game a little bit.
