The first five batters in the Pirates lineup Wednesday afternoon reached base at least twice, four of them collecting two hits as they defeated the Cardinals 3-1. The four in the order, Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen and Lyle Overbay are all hitting over .300 with with good to great OBPs. There isn’t much behind them right now, but four good hitters in a row are capable of generating a good deal of offense, and enough if the Pirates keep pitching like this. With the one earned run allowed today (St. Louis was down to their last strike before scoring), the Pirates ERA stands at 2.60. That ERA can cover a lot of flaws in the offense.