Pirates in baseball: Alec Burleson homers, helps Cards beat Clayton McCullough’s Marlins

by | Jul 29, 2025

It was a battle of former ECU Pirates of sorts on Monday.

The St. Louis Cardinals and ECU baseball alum Alec Burleson faced off against the Miami Marlins and manager Clayton McCullough. He hit a solo homer in the third inning that set off the Cardinals’ 7-1 win.

The homer was Burleson’s 14th of the season. He finished 1-for-2 with two runs, two RBI and a walk.

He also reached on catcher’s interference and later scored in the five-run seventh inning.

McCullough and Miami, who are 8-4 since fellow ECU alum Connor Norby went down with an injury, dropped to 50-55.

See below to find out what the rest of the Pirates in baseball did on Monday. The minors were off on Monday.

Major League Baseball

  • Connor Norby, Miami Marlins: On Injured List with wrist injury. Had surgery and will be out 6-8 weeks.
  • Alec Burleson, St. Louis Cardinals: See above
  • Shawn Armstrong, Texas Rangers: Did not pitch in 6-4 loss to Angels
  • Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians: Did not pitch in 8-6 loss to Rockies
  • Jeff Hoffman, Toronto Blue Jays: Did not pitch in 11-4 loss to Orioles
  • Clayton McCullough, Miami Marlins (manager): 
  • Zach Agnos, Colorado Rockies: On 15-day injured list with right flexor strain
  • Carson Whisenhunt, San Francisco Giants: Click here to read more on his Major League Baseball debut

Photo credit: Alec Burleson (AP photo)

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