Cards get consecutive HRs, 2-run double in 9th and top Pirates 4-2 after being no-hit into 7th

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jose Fermin hit a tiebreaking two-run double after Pedro Pages and JJ Wetherholt hit consecutive homers — all in the ninth inning — as the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 Monday night after breaking up a perfect game bid in the seventh inning.

With the Pirates leading 2-0, four Pittsburgh pitchers combined to shut down the Cardinals through 6 2/3 innings before Alec Burleson legged out a two-out, infield single off Evan Sisk in the seventh.

Pages' and Wetherholt’s home runs off Dennis Santana (2-2) lifted the Cardinals into a 2-all tie before Fermin’s double into the left-field corner scored Victor Scott II and Burleson, giving St. Louis a 4-2 lead.

Ryan Fernandez (1-0) earned the win and George Soriano got a ground out, strikeout and, after a single by Nick Gonzales, a fly out for his first save as the Cardinals snapped a four-game skid.

Pittsburgh opener Mason Montgomery and Justin Lawrence each pitched an inning and Wilber Dotel worked the next four, striking out three. Sisk pitched two-thirds of an inning before he replaced by Isaac Mattson after allowing the Cardinals' first hit. The Pirates carried their two-run lead into the ninth before Santana blew the save.

The Pirates scored one run in each of the first two innings on RBI singles by Ryan O’Hearn and Jake Mangum off Dustin May In six innings, May allowed two runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

Burleson and Fermin had two hits apiece for St. Louis. The Pirates got two hits each from Gonzales and Mangum.

Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz was a late scratch because of illness

Cardinals RHP Kyle Leahy (2-3, 5.63 ERA) is expected to face Pirates RHP Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.43) on Tuesday night.

Pittsburgh Pirates' Jake Mangum, left, slides under a tag by St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt, right, for a stolen base in the fourth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Jake Mangum drives in a run with a single off a pitch from St. Louis Cardinals' Dustin May in the second inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)

St. Louis Cardinals' Pedro Pagés celebrates as he rounds the bases on his home run off of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dennis Santana in the ninth inning of a baseball game, in Pittsburgh, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)

St. Louis Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt connects with a pitch from Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dennis Santana for a home run in the ninth inning of a baseball game, in Pittsburgh, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)

St. Louis Cardinals' JJ Wetherholt (26) celebrates with Iván Herrera (48) on his way back to the dugout after his home run off of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dennis Santana in the ninth inning of a baseball game, in Pittsburgh, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time using a human-made canopy bridge to cross a public road on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, conservationists said Monday.

Rapid development has been shrinking the jungle habitat of the critically endangered species, and fatal conflicts with people have been increasing.

The fleeting scene, captured by a motion‑sensitive camera, showed a young Sumatran orangutan pause at the forest’s edge, grip a rope with deliberate care and step out into open air. Halfway across, it stopped, casting a glance down at the road below. Moments later, it crossed.

Conservationists said that it marks the first documented case of an Sumatra orangutan using an artificial canopy bridge to cross a public road that had divided its habitat.

“This was the moment we had been waiting for,” Erwin Alamsyah Siregar, executive director of Indonesian conservation group Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa, or TaHuKah, told The Associated Press. “We are very grateful that the canopy here provides benefits for orangutan conservation efforts.”

He said that the bridge spans the Lagan–Pagindar road in Pakpak Bharat district, a vital corridor connecting remote villages to schools, healthcare and government services. But the road also cuts directly through prime orangutan habitat, splitting an estimated 350 orangutans into two isolated forest areas: the Siranggas Wildlife Reserve and the Sikulaping Protection Forest.

When the road was upgraded in 2024, the gap in the forest canopy widened, eliminating natural crossings for tree‑dwelling wildlife.

“Development was necessary for people,” Siregar said. “But without intervention, it would have left orangutans trapped on either side.”

TaHuKah, working with the Sumatran Orangutan Society, or SOS, and local and national government agencies, proposed a simple solution: rope bridges suspended between trees, allowing arboreal animals to cross above traffic.

Five canopy bridges were installed each with a camera trap, carefully positioned after surveys of orangutan nests, forest cover and animal movement. The structures were designed to support the orangutan’s weight — no small feat for the world’s largest tree‑dwelling mammal.

The program is closely monitored, with camera traps on every bridge and regular patrols to prevent forest encroachment. Conservationists hope more orangutans will follow the first pioneer.

They waited two years for the first orangutan to cross the bridge. Before the accomplishment, only smaller animals used it. Camera traps recorded squirrels, langur monkeys and macaques, followed by gibbons — a promising sign.

The orangutan’s approach was slower, building nests near the bridge, lingering at its edges and testing the ropes over time.

“They observe,” Siregar said. “They don’t rush. They watch, they try, they retreat. Only when they’re certain it’s safe do they move.”

Then, one day, he crossed fully — a first not just for Sumatra, but for the species globally on a public road, conservations say.

Similar bridges have been used by orangutans elsewhere, but usually over rivers or on private industrial forest road. Conservationists say public roads — noisy, busy and unpredictable — pose a far greater challenge.

For orangutans, the stakes are high. Isolation leads to inbreeding, genetic weakening and eventual population collapse. Restoring connectivity gives them a chance to survive.

Once widespread across southern Asia, the animal now only survives on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Fewer than 14,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild, alongside just 800 Tapanuli orangutans and about 104,700 Bornean orangutans, according to conservation groups

“These bridges allow orangutans to move, to mix, to maintain healthy populations,” Siregar said. “It reduces the risk of extinction.”

Orangutans in North Sumatra's Gunung Leuser National Park near Bukit Lawang, Indonesia, Feb. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/David Rising)