ST. LOUIS (AP) — Sonny Gray pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 on Wednesday for their fifth straight victory.
Gray (4-1) struck out eight and walked one in his first win since April 14. The right-hander went 0-1 with a 5.51 ERA in his previous three starts.
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St. Louis Cardinals' Victor Scott II (11) scores past Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart during the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
St. Louis Cardinals' Victor Scott II scores during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
St. Louis Cardinals' Chris Roycroft, right, and Pedro Pages celebrate a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Members of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Cardinals returned to .500 at 19-19, including a 15-6 record at home. They are 4-2 against the Pirates this year after finishing a three-game sweep.
Masyn Winn hit two RBI doubles. Lars Nootbaar had three hits, and Victor Scott II scored all the way from first twice.
The Pirates (12-26) were shut out for the eighth time. They have lost seven in a row and 10 of 11 overall.
St. Louis jumped in front with two runs in the third against Mitch Keller (1-4). Scott walked and scored on Nootbaar’s hit-and-run single to right. Winn added a bloop RBI double.
Scott extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games when he hit a leadoff single in the fifth. He scored on Winn’s one-out double.
Jordan Walker added a two-run single in the eighth.
Keller allowed seven hits in six-plus innings. He struck out six and walked three.
The Pirates finished with four hits.
Nolan Arenado was scratched from the St. Louis lineup with back spasms.
The Pirates put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth. But Kyle Leahy struck out Bryan Reynolds and retired Andrew McCutchen on a bouncer to second.
Oneil Cruz, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Reynolds each struck out twice for Pittsburgh.
The Pirates return home for three games against the Braves beginning on Friday. The Cardinals begin a nine-game trip at Washington on Friday night. RHP Erick Fedde (2-3, 4.78 ERA) starts the series opener against the Nationals.
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St. Louis Cardinals' Victor Scott II (11) scores past Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart during the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
St. Louis Cardinals' Victor Scott II scores during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
St. Louis Cardinals' Chris Roycroft, right, and Pedro Pages celebrate a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Members of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
NUUK, Greenland (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that NATO should help the U.S. acquire Greenland and anything less than having the island in U.S. hands is unacceptable, hours before Vice President JD Vance was to host Danish and Greenlandic officials for talks.
In a post on his social media site, Trump reiterated his argument that the U.S. “needs Greenland for the purpose of National Security.” He added that “NATO should be leading the way for us to get it” and that otherwise Russia or China would — “AND THAT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!”
“NATO becomes far more formidable and effective with Greenland in the hands of the UNITED STATES,” Trump wrote. “Anything less than that is unacceptable.”
Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, is at the center of a geopolitical storm as Trump insists he wants to own it — and residents of its capital, Nuuk, say it isn't for sale. The White House hasn't ruled out taking the Arctic island by force.
Vance, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is to meet Denmark’s foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt in Washington later Wednesday to discuss Greenland.
Along the narrow, snow-covered main street in Nuuk, international journalists and camera crews have been stopping passersby every few meters (feet) asking them for their thoughts on a crisis which Denmark’s prime minister has warned could potentially trigger the end of NATO.
Tuuta Mikaelsen, a 22-year-old student, told The Associated Press in Nuuk that she hoped American officials would get the message to “back off."
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a news conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday that "if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.”
Asked later Tuesday about Nielsen's comments, Trump replied: “I disagree with him. I don’t know who he is. I don’t know anything about him. But, that’s going to be a big problem for him.”
Greenland is strategically important because, as climate change causes the ice to melt, it opens up the possibility of shorter trade routes to Asia. That also could make it easier to extract and transport untapped deposits of critical minerals which are needed for computers and phones.
This week, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that “we will continue to strengthen our military presence in Greenland" and underlined a consensus among NATO members that the alliance must take greater responsibility for security in the Arctic and North Atlantic.
Trump said in Wednesday's post that Greenland is “vital” to the United States' Golden Dome missile defense program. He also has said he wants the island to expand America’s security and has cited what he says is the threat from Russian and Chinese ships as a reason to control it.
But both experts and Greenlanders question that claim.
“The only Chinese I see is when I go to the fast food market,” heating engineer Lars Vintner said. He said he frequently goes sailing and hunting and has never seen Russian or Chinese ships.
His friend, Hans Nørgaard, agreed, adding “what has come out of the mouth of Donald Trump about all these ships is just fantasy.”
Denmark has said the U.S, which already has a military presence, can boost its bases on Greenland. For that reason, “security is just a cover,” Vintner said, suggesting Trump actually wants to own the island to make money from its untapped natural resources.
Nørgaard said he filed a police complaint in Nuuk against Trump’s “aggressive” behavior because, he said, American officials are threatening the people of Greenland and NATO.
Mikaelsen, the student, said Greenlanders benefit from being part of Denmark, which provides free health care, education and payments during study, and “I don’t want the U.S. to take that away from us."
Following the White House meeting, Løkke Rasmussen and Motzfeldt, along with Denmark’s ambassador to the U.S., are due to meet with senators from the Arctic Caucus in the U.S. Congress.
Two lawmakers — Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican — have introduced bipartisan legislation that would prohibit the use of U.S. Defense or State department funds to annex or take control of Greenland or the sovereign territory of any NATO member state without that ally’s consent or authorization from the North Atlantic Council.
A bipartisan delegation of lawmakers is also heading to Copenhagen later this week to meet Danish and Greenlandic officials.
Last week, Denmark’s major European allies joined Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in issuing a statement declaring that Greenland belongs to its people and that “it is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told RTL radio Wednesday that his country plans to open a consulate in Greenland Feb. 6, following a decision last summer to open the diplomatic outpost.
“Attacking another NATO member would make no sense; it would even be contrary to the interests of the United States. And I’m hearing more and more voices in the United States saying this,” Barrot said. “So this blackmail must obviously stop.”
Geir Moulson in Berlin, Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Catherine Gaschka in Paris contributed to this report.
A fisherman carries a bucket onto his boat in the harbor of Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A boat travels at the sea inlet in Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People walk near the church in Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A bird stands on a boat at the harbour of Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
People walk along a street in downtown of Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
