Dunston, Cards Fly Past Pirates

May 8, 1999 / 2:52 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Shawon Dunston isn't looking his age these days.

The 36-year-old utility player hit a game-winning, two-run homer in the ninth after the St. Louis Cardinals wasted a two-run lead in the top of the inning. He also made an outstanding running catch in a rare start in center field in a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

"Mentally, physically, he's 10 years younger," manager Tony La Russa said. "He's in great shape and he's still very enthusiastic."

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Darren Bragg walked with two outs and Dunston hit his second homer of the season, a 411-foot drive to center off Rich Loiselle (3-2). Dunston, who earlier got a pair of infield hits, got the bunt sign on a 1-0 pitch that he took for a ball before homering.

"I wasn't thinking home run," said Dunston, who's hitting .364 with two homers and 10 RBIs. "I'd never gotten a hit off Rich and he throws 95 mph, so you just want to put the ball in play. It's very nice."

Loiselle looked like he was in shock, staring in the distance in his locker stall.

"Not much I can say. I made a bad pitch and it costs us the ballgame," Louiselle said.

Bragg's fielding error in the top of the ninth helped the Pirates tie the score. Scott Radinsky (1-0) got the last out in the ninth.

Darren Oliver threw seven shutout innings and Ricky Bottalico worked in and out of a bases-loaded situation in the eighth. But the Pirates tied it in the ninth with two runs off closer Juan Acevedo.

Pat Meares singled for his third hit and he scored when Brian Giles doubled to right and Bragg, a defensive replacement who had just entered the game, bobbled the ball in the corner. Kevin Young, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the eighth, then tied it with an RBI double.

Acevedo blew only one of 16 save chances last season. In his last four appearances he's allowed eight runs seven earned with two blown saves and a loss.

"He's real upset and he's not as good as he can be and I know he's going to be," La Russa said. "We'll figure something out for hi. He's a terrific weapon. He's just not right."

The Cardinals had given up 25 runs and 31 hits the previous two games. Oliver allowed at least one runner in every inning, giving up nine hits but stranding five runners in scoring position.

Oliver, acquired from Texas last July in the deal that also brought Fernando Tatis to St. Louis, also singled and scored the game's first run in the third. He has pitched in bad luck, getting no-decisions in games in which he's allowed one, two and zero runs.

The Pirates, who had scored 47 runs in their previous six games, got little out of 13 hits 11 of them singles. All but one of their season-high 15 hits in a 13-3 victory Thursday were singles.

"We got a lot of hits, we just couldn't get the big one," manager Gene Lamont said. "We had a lot of early chances we couldn't take advantage of."

Both of the Cardinals' runs against Jason Schmidt came on two-out errors. Schmidt misplayed Edgar Renteria's two-out grounder up the middle, allowing Oliver to score in the third.

Tatis drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, advanced when Young missed a relay to first trying to double him off the bag on a flyout, and scored when Placido Polanco reached on an infield hit as third baseman Ed Sprague's throw sailed high for an error.

Notes: Dunston has made only five career starts in center. ... Young is 21-for-56 during his streak with three homers and 13 RBIs. ... Cardinals rookie outfielder J.D. Drew sat out his fourth straight game with a strained quadriceps muscle and is day to day. ... Freddy Garcia, who had three RBI singles on Thursday, singled in three at-bats and is 10-for-25 with three homers and six RBIs in his career at Busch Stadium. ... The Cardinals placed left-hander Donovan Osborne on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation and recalled right-handed reliever Rick Croushore from Triple-A Memphis.