PITTSBURGH — Sitting at his locker last week in the National League All-Stars clubhouse, Pittsburgh outfielder Bryan Reynolds leaned back and considered the claustrophobic games that are likely to define the mosh pit of teams in the NL Central.He called them “nitty, gritty.” He referred to them as “very tight.”He remarked how every game just feels “back and forth” and “really close.”He saw Monday coming. Then he put his cleats where his claim was.A taut pitchers duel unwound ever so slightly in the eighth inning Monday night at PNC Park as Reynolds took second base on a wild pitch to get himself into scoring position. That meant the single that followed was enough to push the Pirates to a 2-1 victory against the Cardinals. The hit that decided the game was a ground-ball single by Nick Gonzales that would not have produced a run if not for John King’s wild pitch.Such was the difference in a game dictated early by starters Andre Pallante and Mitch Keller and decided late by Pittsburgh’s foolproof bullpen. In the middle, the Cardinals threw out a runner at the plate to keep the score tied 1-1. The only run the Cardinals managed came on a single swing from Nolan Gorman for a homer that tied the game in the fifth.The Cardinals had one base runner in the final four innings. Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect eighth, and closer David Bednar ducked around a two-out single to secure the game and his 18th save of the season.Reynolds greeted lefty King with a leadoff single in the eighth. He scampered to second on the wild pitch, and Gonzales’ single to right brought him home. The Pirates went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position, but in the “nitty gritty” confines of these NL Central tussles, those two were enough when the Cardinals mustered only three at-bats with a runner in scoring position and no hits.Pallante tightens grip on role With a week remaining before the July 30 trade deadline and the Cardinals eyeballing the market for available starting pitching, Pallante continued to improve his claim to remaining a starter.Pallante pitched through the sixth inning for the third consecutive game and echoed his previous start against the Pirates. In his 13 innings this month as a starter against the Bucs, Pallante has allowed two runs on three hits and coaxed 25 groundballs. The Pirates paired Andrew McCutchen’s ...
