PITTSBURGH — The only chant at PNC Park that rivals “M-V-P” for an Andrew McCutchen sighting is “Pe-dro” for a certain third baseman.
Pedro Alvarez was worthy of all the fuss on Sunday, when he delivered the biggest hit of his major league career and helped put the Pirates on the brink of a playoff series victory.
Alvarez’s RBI single in the eighth alleviated the sting of Carlos Beltran’s homer a half-inning earlier and sent the Pirates sailing to a 5-3 victory over the Cardinals in Game 3 of the NL Division Series before a PNC-record crowd of 40,489 — roughly 99 percent of which was clad in black and yellow as part of a “Blackout.”
“These fans haven’t seen playoff ball since 1992, so they are going to be loud,” said McCutchen, whose Pirates lead the series 2-1. “They are going to be even louder [Monday]. They want to see us win at home.”
Alvarez delivered the go-ahead hit in the eighth against lefty Kevin Siegrist before Russell Martin’s RBI single provided the Pirates an insurance run.
Alvarez, a Washington Heights native, has homered twice and driven in six runs this postseason.
“The atmosphere, the energy has been outstanding,” Alvarez said. “And that’s what you dream of — to be able to play these kind of caliber games, at this time of year. And to do it here, it’s just been a lot of fun.”
Marlon Byrd, whom the Pirates acquired with John Buck from the Mets in late August, finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs
Another former Mets outfielder, Beltran, kept the Cardinals alive in the eighth, delivering a game-tying solo homer against Mark Melancon. The blast was Beltran’s second in the series and his 16th in 37 career postseason games. Beltran’s two-run single in the fifth accounted for the Cardinals’ other runs.
“He’s definitely a postseason killer and hopefully we can slow him down [Monday],” McCutchen said.
Francisco Liriano, who beat the Reds in the NL wild-card game last Tuesday, put the Pirates in position to win Sunday by allowing two runs on three hits and two walks over six innings.
It was a second straight strong start by a Pirates starting pitcher, after A.J. Burnett was hammered for seven runs over two-plus innings in the Pirates’ 9-1 loss in Game 1. Rookie Gerrit Cole followed that performance by allowing one run over six innings in Game 2.
“We weren’t able to stack [hits] one on top of another,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “Fortunately, Carlos was a lot of offense and kept us right there.”
The Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the sixth, after Byrd’s double put runners on second and third. Alvarez was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out before Martin’s sacrifice fly snapped the tie.
Joe Kelly went 5 ¹/₃ innings for the Cardinals and surrendered three runs, two earned, on five hits and four walks.
Beltran’s two-run single in the fifth tied the game at 2-2 after Liriano mostly breezed through four innings. The key play of the inning was a double steal involving Jon Jay and Pete Kozma after Kelly failed in his sacrifice bunt attempt and struck out.
Byrd’s two-run single in the first inning gave the Pirates a quick lead after Kozma’s throwing error put runners on second and third.
“Twelve seasons, first postseason appearance, I’m trying to soak it all in and at the same time stay focused,” Byrd said. “You look at the crowd and get lost in the energy and the atmosphere. Just having a heck of a time. Trying to have fun and get one.”