What often matters most to pitchers -- more so than even their velocity, pitch sequencing or the shape of their pitches – is location, location, location.

The wayward location of a couple of Matthew Liberatore’s pitches on Sunday led to him surrendering his 24th and 25th home run balls of the season to the Pirates on Sunday. Liberatore’s inability to keep the ball out of the middle of the plate could ultimately lead to him having a change in location – from the starting staff to the bullpen – on the Cardinals pitching staff in 2027.

Esmerlyn Valdez drilled a center-cut fastball for a two-run, opposite-field homer and Jared Triolo turned on an inside changeup for 412-foot home run to lift the Pirates past Liberatore and the Cardinals 5-4 at Busch Stadium on Sunday.

"When you look at that last walk, if he gets through six, pinches out nine and give up three earned (runs), that's not a bad line and I'd take that from (Liberatore) every day," Cardinals' manager Oliver Marmol said. "We're getting closer to the right usage in order to get less contact and get more swing and miss, while still being in the zone and him feeling comfortable about the way he's attacking." 

Liberatore (5-13) struck out nine and induced 14 swings and misses, but he lost a seventh straight decision because of the long balls surrendered. The 26-year-old left-hander was hit especially in a 0-5 August where he surrendered four homers and pitched to a 6.15 ERA. His 25 homers allowed in 2026 are the most in his career and are the 12th most in MLB.

Trailing 5-2, the Cardinals scored twice in the seventh inning when Thomas Saggese delivered his third hit of the day, Bryan Torres delivered a sacrifice fly and Ivan Herrera drilled a run-scoring double off the wall in left field. However, even after stolen bases by Herrera and Alec Burleson, the Cardinals failed to push across the tying run when Jordan Walker struck out and Nolan Gorman flied out – a pitch after Gorman narrowly missed a potential go-ahead homer when his liner curled before the foul pole.

The Cardinals (69-69) went just 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position and they left eight runners on base. In the three-game series against the Pirates (67-71), St. Louis went just 3 for 21 with runners in scoring position.

Saggese, who was recalled from Triple-A Memphis on Friday when Blaze Jordan (left ankle sprain) was placed on the 10-day Injured List, got the start at shortstop in place of JJ Wetherholt. Bothered by pain in his right wrist for more than a month, the standout rookie was placed on the 10-day IL with tendinitis on Sunday morning.

Liberatore came into the day holding foes to .229 hitting when he was ahead in the count, but the opposition stroked the ball to the tune of a .340 average when he was behind. That held up on Sunday as Valdez’s two run, opposite-field came on a 3-2 pitch, while Triolo smashed a changeup in the second deck above the wall in left field with a 1-0 count.

Of his 107 pitches – the most thrown by a Cardinals pitcher in 2026 – Liberatore threw 47 sliders on Sunday. He surrendered just three hits on that pitch and got eight whiffs on the 23 swings off that pitch. Five of his first six strikeouts came when he buried changeups inside on Pittsburgh’s right-handed hitters.

Liberatore got a bad break in the third inning Cardinals’ third baseman Ramon Urias retreated back into the grass while battling the sun and dropped a popup. The former Gold Glover called the ball from the time it left the bat, but Saggese – a part-timer at shortstop – should have taken command and got in position for the popup because he had the better angle.      

Burleson, the Cardinals most consistent player all season, gave St. Louis some hope in the fifth inning when his single plated Bryan Torres for his 100th RBI on the season. Burleson, who trails only Cincinnati’s Sal Stewart (104 RBI), is the first Cardinals’ left-handed hitter with 100 RBI since Jim Edmonds in 2004 and he is the first St. Louis left-handed first base man with 100 RBI since Keith Hernandez did it in 1980.

"He's a professional hitter and does what the game is calling for," Marmol said of Burleson. "He does a really nice job of game-planning and understanding what he's trying to do. And when he gets into the box, he's really committed to it. He rarely leaves his game plan, and he doesn't take any pitches off. You rarely see him give away an at bat. He's locked in to every pitch and because of it, he is having a very productive year."