Burleson continues success against Skenes, finally homers off Pirates ace

Alec Burleson hit his 24th home run of the season off Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes, driving in his MLB-leading 113th RBI at PNC Park on Thursday. Despite Burleson's solo shot, the St. Louis Cardinals were defeated 2-1 by the Pirates after Pittsburgh capitalized on an eighth-inning throwing error to score the winning run.

Skenes completed his final start of the 2026 season by pitching 6 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts, reaching 200 strikeouts on the year while allowing just one run. Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy threw two innings to reach 140 innings on the season before rookie Cooper Hjerpe delivered 3 1/3 scoreless relief innings.