Pirates Drop Another To The Cardinals

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cardinals bench coach Skip Schumaker learned less than an hour before game time that he’d be filling in for ill manager Oliver Marmol. Nolan Arenado helped make his job a lot easier. Arenado hit three doubles and a single, Paul DeJong homered and St. Louis, minus its rookie skipper, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 Saturday. Marmol, a winner in his debut Thursday as a major league manager, was at Busch Stadium before the game and diagnosed with the flu. He tested negative for COVID-19 and left the ballpark. Arenado drove in three runs in his second four-hit game since being traded to St. Louis prior to the 2021 season. St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas threw a career-high 41 pitches in the first inning, but gave up just run in that span. He was pulled in the fourth. Relievers Kody Whitley (1-0), Nick Wittgren, T.J. McFarland and Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos combined to throw 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Mitch Keller (0-1) allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in four innings.