Lowe's race around the bases ruled regular old homer

ST. LOUIS -- Whether the ball managed to sneak over the wall or not, nothing was coming between Brandon Lowe and touching home plate.

A tailing fly ball into the left-field corner against Cardinals starter Dustin May caught the right gust of wind to stay just barely fair, and José Fermín’s leaping attempt did little more than harmlessly deflect the ball back toward the left-center gap. Lowe raced around the bases, crossing the plate standing up for his 13th homer of the season.

Despite Lowe's sprint, the drive was officially ruled a regular home run, of the non-inside-the-park variety.

It traveled 342 feet, projected by Statcast, into a corner that’s marked at 336 feet to the wall. With the wind blowing at eight mph from left to right to start the game, there was evidently just enough push to counteract the tailing action off the bat and hold the ball inside the line long enough for the Pirates to jump out to a 1-0 lead.

Bizarrely enough, the last -- and per the official ruling, still most recent -- inside-the-park round tripper both hit by the Pirates and surrendered by the Cardinals came four years ago to the day. It was hit by Pittsburgh outfielder Bryan Reynolds at PNC Park against Matthew Liberatore.