Pirates ride 'Cole train,' even NLCS with Cardinals

John Perrotto | Special for USA TODAY Sports

ST. LOUIS – Breaking down the NL Division Series Game 2 at Busch Stadium:

Pirates 7, Cardinals 1: Series tied, 1-1

State of the Series: The best-of-five series in knotted at 1-1 as the Pirates bounced back Friday, a day after getting whipped 9-1 in Game 1. After an off day Saturday, the series will resume at 4:37 p.m. ET Sunday at PNC Park in Pittsburgh with Pirates left-hander Francisco Liriano (16-8, 3.02 in the regular season) facing Joe Kelly (10-5, 2.69). Liriano was the winning pitcher Tuesday night when the Pirates beat Cincinnati in the NL Wild Card game, holding the Reds to only one run in seven innings.

Game 1 Pivot Point: Third baseman Pedro Alvarez blasted a two-run home run, a 418-foot drive to dead center field, with two outs in the third inning to put the Pirates ahead 3-0. That gave winning pitcher Gerrit Cole some breathing room and he mowed down the Cardinals.

Man of the Moment: Cole, a rookie right-hander, was outstanding in his first postseason start as he held the Cardinals to one run and two hits in six innings, a day after veteran A.J. Burnett was tagged for seven runs in two-plus innings. Cole, 23, struck out five, walked one and retired 11 straight batters until Yadier Molina led off the sixth inning with a home run. Cole even drove in the game's first run with a second-inning single.

Needing a Mulligan: Losing pitcher Lance Lynn lasted just 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs and seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

What you missed on TV: Possibly the game. The game was televised on the MLB Network, which is a premium channel on many cable systems.

Manager's Special: The Pirates' Clint Hurdle started Jordy Mercer at shortstop over Clint Barmes in an attempt to infuse more offense into a lineup that was held to one run in Game 1. Mercer was 1-for-3 with a single and an intentional walk. However, the two-out walk in the second inning led to the game's first run when Cole followed with his single.