PITTSBURGH -- In his final start of the year, Matthew Liberatore ended on a high note.
Saddled throughout the season by the weight of expectation after serving as the Cardinals’ Opening Day starter, Liberatore’s 2026 campaign didn’t go the way he had envisioned, as he finished with a 5.23 ERA in 31 starts across the year. But on Wednesday, he closed it out in a way that suggests growth has still taken place for the 26-year-old left-hander.
On Wednesday night at PNC Park, Liberatore paced the Cardinals with 5 2/3 strong innings, allowing just one run on six hits with six strikeouts as the Cardinals beat the Pirates, 5-1.
Liberatore’s lone blemish Wednesday was a solo home run by a guy who’s beaten a lot of pitchers for long balls this season. Brandon Lowe smoked a fastball to the back of the right-field stands for the 34th home run of his impressive debut season in Pittsburgh. For Liberatore, Wednesday’s outing marked his first two-game stretch since his first two starts of the season in which he allowed just one earned run in both games.
In a bullpen game for the Pirates on Wednesday, the Cardinals mustered far more offensively than they did in Pittsburgh’s one-hitter helmed by Jared Jones on Tuesday.
St. Louis rattled off crooked numbers in the third and fourth innings to account for their five runs. A native of nearby Mars, Pa., Cardinals rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt paced the lineup from the leadoff spot, reaching base four times in five plate appearances.
Wetherholt went 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored. José Fermín chipped in a multi-hit game as well, with the Cardinals totaling 10 hits while taking four walks to keep pressure on the Pirates’ bullpen throughout the contest.