Pittsburgh Pirates at St. Louis Cardinals

The elephant in the room was so large it could no longer fit in the clubhouse. Pittsburgh’s bullpen accrued a 4.31 ERA from Opening Day through Aug. 3, the day of the Trade Deadline, which ranked 20th in baseball. General manager Ben Cherington promptly kicked the elephant out the door, acquiring four relievers to flip the unit on its head. Since Cherington’s moves, which included the acquisition of veterans Luke Weaver and Kirby Yates, along with projects Camilo Doval and Lake Bachar, the Pirates’ bullpen had produced a 2.80 ERA entering Sunday’s affair, ranking fourth in MLB. Pittsburgh’s new unit flaunted its talents in St. Louis, covering 14 1/3 innings, surviving a seventh-inning scare. The relief corps allowed two runs in the seventh to push a three-run lead to one, but came up clutch with six key outs to help the Pirates to a 5-4 win over the Cardinals. The victory gave Pittsburgh its fourth series win in its last five, and further proved the newfound prowess of the bullpen, with some small road bumps still remaining. “\[It’s\