Harrison Bader's 3-run homer off Wil Crowe lifts Cardinals to sweep of Pirates

May 2—After Wil Crowe left a hanging slider that Harrison Bader hit for a three-run homer in the first inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher came to a quick realization about his pitch repertoire.

Though his fastball never felt better, the rookie right-hander couldn't count on his offspeed stuff. So he stuck with his four-seamer in grinding out five innings against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bader's 425-foot homer to left provided all the cushion the Cardinals needed for a 3-0 win to sweep the three-game series with the Pirates on Sunday afternoon before 7,343 at PNC Park.

The Pirates go on a seven-day, six-game road trip starting Monday with three games at San Diego followed by three at the Chicago Cubs over the weekend.

"One swing of the bat was the whole game in this situation," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "Throughout the entire game, the command of his offspeed stuff was not very good, and he actually pitched with one pitch, which is fairly impressive."

The Pirates were shut out for the second time this season — they lost at Minnesota, 2-0, on April 23 — as Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez (2-4) allowed five hits and two walks in eight innings. The Pirates went 1 for 9 with runners on base against Martinez, hitting into three double plays and striking out twice, and went down in order against Alex Reyes in the ninth.

Crowe (0-1) allowed more walks (four) than hits (three) and strikeouts (two) in throwing 97 pitches, but he took the loss as the Pirates (12-14) finished the five-game homestand with four consecutive losses and by being swept for the second time this season (at Cincinnati was the other).

"I was definitely trying to feel for some different things," said Crowe, whose four-seamer touched 97 mph. "The fastball was the best it's been in a while. I felt really good out there with the fastball and things, but then you flip it to the other side, and the offspeed was probably the worst it's been in probably a couple years.

"Looking back on the home run, I threw a hanging slider that to me felt good, but it being early in the game, still trying to feel what's going and what's not, I threw an easy one to hit. You know they drop the head on that pitch, and he did what he was supposed to do."

Crowe tried to help his cause at the plate, as he was one of only two Pirates to reach base twice.

Catcher Jacob Stallings was hit in the right side of his face by a Martinez 98-mph fastball in the fourth inning.

Afterward, Stallings said he was sore and had some swelling but otherwise felt fine. Stallings, who remained in the game, said Martinez apologized both at first base and again when he came to bat in the sixth.

"I'm good, so I got lucky for sure," Stallings said. "It was scary. It's the first time it's ever happened to me. ... It hurt, but the shock of it is kind of the initial, you know, scared and hoping everything's all right. Once everything slowed down a little bit, I felt like I knew that I was OK."

Crowe started his 41-pitch second inning by walking Paul DeJong and giving up a single to left to Tyler O'Neill. With one out and runners on first and second, Bader hit a 1-1 slider into the left-field bleachers for his first home run of the season.

Crowe tried to help his own case with a single to left lead off the bottom of the third for his first major league hit. Adam Frazier followed with a single, but Bryan Reynolds struck out and Colin Moran hit into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

Even after Crowe was at 97 pitches and was coming out of the game, Shelton let him bat again in the bottom of the fifth, and Crowe drew a five-pitch walk. Shelton cited two factors for the decision: He called Crowe the Pirates' best-hitting pitcher — a status with which Steven Brault and JT Brubaker might argue — and said he didn't want to burn a position player as a pinch hitter in case Stallings had to come out.

"So the fact that we were down three and he's shown proficiency in all of our work to swing the bat, we decided to let him hit," Shelton said. "And it worked. He got on base, and we just didn't get anything going."

Instead, in a play symbolic of their struggles, Frazier lined into a double play. That cost them a potential run when it was followed by a Reynolds double to left. The Pirates didn't get another hit — only Todd Frazier reached base on a walk — as their final 11 batters were retired.

Despite the defeat, Shelton saw a sign of growth in Crowe.

"You've got essentially a rookie pitcher out there, and he doesn't command the slider, curveball, changeup the way he would like, and he's able to get through their lineup with essentially execution of the fastball," Shelton said. "So, yeah, it's a definite sign of growth to keep us in that game, because it's a three-run game. We're in that game. We just didn't find a way to crack Martinez."

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .