Lowe homers, Griffin extends hitting streak and Pirates beat Cardinals 6-2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brandon Lowe homered, Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 on Thursday.

Rookie Konnor Griffin extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double. He also scored a run and stole a base. Griffin went 6 for 13 in the series and improved to 13 for 33 during his streak.

Braxton Ashcraft (3-2) struck out nine in seven innings. He gave up one run on four hits and two walks.

The Pirates won their fourth consecutive road series against National League Central opponents.

Ozuna, a former Cardinal, singled with one out to score Spencer Horwitz and Griffin, extending the lead to 4-1 in the sixth.

Henry Davis hit a leadoff homer in the seventh and Bryan Reynolds drove in a run with a ground out, making it 6-1.

Lowe, who also singled, hit a 3-2 fastball that bounced off the top of the wall just inside the left-field foul pole in the first inning. It was originally declared an inside-the-park home run before the stat was changed by the scorer.

The Pirates went ahead 2-1 in the fourth inning. Griffin scored on a fielder’s choice by Jake Mangum.

A two-out home run by Iván Herrera in the third inning tied the score at 1-1. Herrera also scored in the eighth on a single by Jordan Walker.

Dustin May (3-5) pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven.

The Pirates will start RHP Bubba Chandler (1-5, 5.14) Friday in Toronto against a starter to be named.

The Cardinals will start RHP Kyle Leahy (5-3, 3.94) against Reds RHP Chris Paddack (0-5, 7.07) Friday in Cincinnati.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin scores during the sixth inning of a baseball game against St. Louis Cardinals Thursday, May 21, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft checks the runner during the seventh inning of a baseball game against St. Louis Cardinals Thursday, May 21, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Mason Montgomery (46) and Henry Davis (32) celebrate a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals a baseball game Thursday, May 21, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Jose Fermin is unable to catch a solo home run by Pittsburgh Pirates' Brandon Lowe during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, May 21, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Pittsburgh Pirates' Brandon Lowe (5) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against St. Louis Cardinals Thursday, May 21, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

MOUNTAINAIR, N.M. (AP) — Investigators in New Mexico are trying to identify a mysterious substance that may have contributed to the deaths of three people and led to more than a dozen first responders being briefly quarantined.

Two people remained in a hospital Thursday, including a person who was found unresponsive in a home where the three died east of Albuquerque, in the rural town of Mountainair.

Authorities went to the home Wednesday after being called about a suspected drug overdose.

Some first responders began coughing, vomiting and experiencing dizziness, authorities said. As a result, medical workers checked nearly two dozen people who may have come into contact with the mysterious substance, the University of New Mexico Hospital said.

It was not clear what the substance was, how the people in the home died, what caused some first responders to become sick or exactly how many experienced symptoms. Autopsies will be conducted and authorities said they were testing to determine what substances were in the home.

Here’s what to know about deaths and the investigation.

Antonette Alguire, a volunteer firefighter in Mountainair, said Wednesday that she saw some EMTS and firefighters coughing, and vomiting after they were outside the house.

Medical workers decontaminated nearly two dozen people, most of them first responders, the University of New Mexico Hospital said. Most of the people had no symptoms, hospital officials said.

Three people were admitted to the hospital Wednesday. One — an emergency medical services official — has since been released, the mayor of Mountainair said Thursday.

Audio archives from the Torrance County Fire Dispatch channel on the site Broadcastify reveal that dispatchers went to the home Wednesday morning, responding to a report of a 60-year-old man who was unconscious but breathing. It was unclear who had made the report.

Within minutes, a dispatcher is heard saying there were three people at the home and two might not be breathing. Then came a call for naloxone, the opioid-overdose antidote.

Torrance County Sheriff David Frazee told The Santa Fe New Mexican that one person was revived using naloxone.

Less than an hour after the initial call, the dispatch center relays that there have been multiple exposures, but there’s no clarity about what substance they were exposed to at the house.

Mountainair Mayor Peter Nieto said he spotted drugs at the home, but did not say what type of drugs.

He dismissed carbon monoxide or natural gas exposure as possible causes for the health issues that the first responders experienced.

New Mexico State Police spokesperson Wilson Silver said there was no threat to the public and that investigators do not believe the mysterious substance was airborne.

New Mexico had the fourth-highest rate of drug overdose deaths of any U.S. state in 2024, with 775 deaths, according to the most recent data available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Residents around Mountainair, a town with less than 1,000 people, have voiced frustration about drug use in the community and elsewhere.

The mayor posted on social media that the town’s law enforcement officers and first responders work daily to protect the community and respond to difficult situations.

Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque. Associated Press writers Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

New Mexico State Police respond to home in Mountainair, N.M., where authorities say several people died Wednesday, May 20, 2026, and more than a dozen first responders were exposed to an unknown substance and later treated at a hospital. (AP Photo/Savannah Peters)