PITTSBURGH — Matt Carpenter seemed to send the St. Louis Cardinals on their way to an easy win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night. His three-run homer gave St. Louis a 5-1 lead in the second inning.

When Luke Voit replaced Carpenter at first base in the seventh inning, the Cardinals led 10-3. It reached 11-3 in the eighth before they nearly let it slip away.

St. Louis eventually won 11-10 but despite the near collapse, Carpenter said he was never nervous in the dugout.

“Never a doubt. Never a doubt,” said Carpenter, who hit the second of three St. Louis home runs in the first three innings. “It was interesting, for sure, but I knew we’d find a way to finish it off.”

The Cardinals have taken the first two games of a four-game series against the Pirates to remain 1 1/2 games behind the National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs.

St. Louis has won 10 of their past 13 games despite losing three straight from Aug. 13-16. It has scored at least eight runs in eight of those 10 wins.

“We needed all of them, 11 (runs),” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “I just can’t say enough when an offense puts days like that together.”

Right-hander Carlos Martinez (10-9) allowed three runs and six hits with four strikeouts for the win. Right-hander Seung Hwan Oh picked up his 19th save.

The Cardinals survived a late Pirates push.

Max Moroff hit a two-run home run, Pittsburgh’s third of the game, 420 feet into the Allegheny River on a bounce beyond the right field wall to make it 11-5 in the eighth. Josh Bell hit an RBI double and Elias Diaz drove in two runs with a double to cut the deficit to 11-8 later in the inning.

Pittsburgh scored two more in the ninth, but left the bases loaded.

“They played. They continued to play,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “They continued to fight. They worked well in the dugout together. They continued to talk baseball.”

The Pirates’ losing streak reached six games. They are 6 1/2 games behind the Cubs.

Tommy Pham homered in the first inning to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead and Paul DeJong made it 6-2 with a solo shot in the third. St. Louis scored two runs in the fourth inning to take an 8-2 lead and chase Pirates starter Trevor Williams.

Williams (5-6) lasted three innings while allowing eight runs, three home runs and seven hits with three strikeouts.

“I thought the command was there,” Williams said. “I had all four pitches working in the zone. It’s just unfortunate the low ball was taken away from me early. But then again, I still have to make pitches.”

Starling Marte hit an RBI triple to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 8-3 in the fifth inning.

DeJong, who was 3 for 5 with two RBI, drove in Martinez with a single and Dexter Fowler followed with an RBI double to push the lead out to 10-3 in the top of the sixth and Jose Martinez extended it to 11-3 with a single in the eighth.

Josh Harrison tied it 1-1 in the first inning with his second home run in the past two days. His 14 home runs are a career high, topping his 13 from 2014. David Freese led off the bottom of the second with a home run to cut Pittsburgh’s deficit to 5-2.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Friday with right elbow impingement. He went just three innings while allowing five runs and seven hits in his start against the Pirates on Thursday night. RHP Mike Mayers was recalled from Triple-A Memphis to fill the roster spot.

Pirates: LHP Wade LeBlanc went on the 10-day disabled list with a left quad strain. He allowed four runs in the ninth inning to the Cardinals on Thursday. LHP Steven Brault, who allowed two runs and four hits in four innings in relief of Williams, was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.

UP NEXT

Neither team announced a starting pitcher for Saturday.

— Associated Press —

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts lined a two-run double off the left-field wall with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a three-run rally that lifted the Boston Red Sox to a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.

Xander Bogaerts hit a solo homer for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who won for the 12th time in 14 games and maintained their 4 1/2-game lead over the second-place New York Yankees.

Kolten Wong had three hits, including an RBI single in St. Louis’ four-run second inning. It was just the third loss in 11 games for the Cardinals, who were swept in the two-game series, their first visit to Fenway Park since the 2013 World Series.

Trevor Rosenthal gave up Bogaerts’ homer into the Green Monster seats in the ninth. Zach Duke (0-1) struck out a batter and walked one before John Brebbia gave up Betts’ hit.

Craig Kimbrel (5-0) pitched one hitless inning for the win.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Brandon Phillips knows what to expect from Cardinals fans.

“Oh yeah, it’s nice for Boo Phillips to come back to St. Louis, man,” Phillips said. “That’s the name they really gave me. I love playing here. The fans here are great.”

Phillips hit a two-run homer to back R.A. Dickey, and the Atlanta Braves stopped the Cardinals’ season-high, eight-game winning streak with a 6-3 victory Sunday.

Phillips connected in the fifth for his 10th home run this season and the 17th of his career against St. Louis. Phillips is still booed by Cardinals fans for his part of a bench-clearing brawl when he played for Cincinnati in 2010.

“I love when they boo me,” he said. “It makes me step up my game a little more and before they started booing me I didn’t play that good in St. Louis. But ever since that first day they started booing me, that’s when I started playing good here, so that’s something the fans need to know.”

Dickey (8-7) allowed one run and seven hits in seven innings. The 42-year-old knuckleballer has given up one or no earned runs in eight of 23 starts.

“I was able to attack the strike zone early,” Dickey said. “The first two times through the lineup they gave me strike one a lot with my fastball. I knew that once I got through that lineup once by stealing strikes that they were going to turn a little bit more aggressive and they did.”

Atlanta stopped a five-game losing streak, beat the Cardinals for the first time in six meetings this year and avoided getting swept in the season series for the first time.

“They had a plan against me,” Dickey said. “I knew what it was early and we were able to come up with our own plan to counteract that.”

Arodys Vizcaino pitched a perfect ninth for his first save since Aug. 5 and his sixth in eight tries.

Michael Wacha (9-5) gave up four runs and five hits in eight innings, just the second time in 10 starts he has allowed four or more earned runs.

“Our offense showed some fight,” Wacha said. “We were right back in it, a hit away from taking the lead or tying it up.”

Atlanta loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, when Danny Santana had an RBI single and Ozzie Albies followed with a sacrifice fly.

Nick Markakis made it 5-0 with an RBI grounder in the seventh. Kolten Wong tripled and scored in the bottom half and added an RBI single in the eighth, when Paul DeJong hit his team-high 18th homer off, a drive off Jim Johnson.

“I’m getting good pitches to hit and not missing them,” DeJong said. “The Braves attacked me a little bit, so I was ready to hit looking in my zone early in the count for sure.”

Ender Inciarte had three singles, scored twice and stole his 15th base. He is hitting .337 (31 for 92) against St. Louis.

TRAINING ROOM

Braves: OF Matt Kemp (right hamstring strain) is expected to return Friday.

Cardinals: AHP Alex Reyes (Tommy John surgery) threw from 90 feet for the first time. INF Jedd Gyorko (right knee irritation) missed his second consecutive game.

UP NEXT

Braves: RHP Julio Teheran (7-10) starts Monday’s opener of a four-game series at Colorado and RHP Chad Bettis, who is back from treatment from testicular cancer and will be making his first appearance since Sept. 30. Teheran is 4-1 with a 2.53 ERA in seven starts against the Rockies.

Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (7-10) starts at Boston in the opener of a six-game trip. Leake last pitched at Fenway Park on May 7, 2014, allowing two runs over seven innings in a no-decision.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — There are times Paul DeJong just shakes his head in wonderment.

The St. Louis rookie infielder, who made his major league debut on May 28, hit his team-leading 17th home run on Saturday night to help the Cardinals push their winning streak to eight games with a 6-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

“I have some of those moments when I look around the stadium and I say to myself, `Am I really doing this? Is this really happening?” DeJong said. “It’s pretty amazing.”

Carlos Martinez (9-9) tossed six solid innings and also drove in a run for the Cardinals, who moved within percentage points with the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

Brandon Phillips homered for Atlanta, which lost its fifth in a row.

The eight-game run is the longest for St. Louis since the Cardinals won eight in a row April 28-May 5, 2015.

DeJong, who hit a home run in his first major league game in Colorado, has 15 homers since June 15.

“He continues to impress us every day,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “Offensively and defensively. He’s making great adjustments from at-bat to at-bat.”

DeJong set a goal at the start of the season to hit 30 home runs, whether it was in the majors or the minors. Or both. His seventh-inning drive on Saturday allowed him to reach that mark. He hit 13 home runs at Triple-A Memphis.

Randal Grichuk also homered for St. Louis, which has scored 68 runs during the eight-game streak. He hit his 15th homer of the season in the second to tie the game 2-all. He also added a double in a three-run outburst in the fifth.

DeJong, who has reached safely in 18 of the last 21 games, led off the seventh a 405-foot blast. He has 41 RBI in just 64 games.

Martinez gave up three earned runs and seven hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked one. His run-scoring single in the fifth pushed the lead to 4-2. He is 7 for 23 (.304) with runners in scoring position.

Trevor Rosenthal picked up his 11th save in 13 tries. He gave up a two-out bases-loaded single to Freddie Freeman in the ninth before striking out Nick Markakis with two runners in scoring position to end the game.

Tyler Lyons chipped in with two innings of scoreless relief.

Martinez allowed four of the first five hitters to reach safely before settling down.

“I just kept working hard and tried to forget about the bad pitches,” Martinez said. “I wanted to concentrate on what’s ahead.”

Lucas Sims (0-3), in just his third major league start, surrendered four earned runs and 10 hits over 5 1/3 innings.

The Braves have rallied twice in the series to get within one run, but came up short both times.

“These guys are never out of a game and they keep coming at you,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “They give you a hard 27 outs.”

Dexter Fowler added two hits for St. Louis and Kolten Wong extended his hitting streak to seven games with a fifth-inning single.

Atlanta jumped to a 2-0 lead on a bases-loaded single by Kurt Suzuki in the first.

“We came close to turning it around,” Freeman said. “Hopefully, we can get on the right side of things tomorrow.”

HAPPY MEMORIES

The Cardinals’ 1987 NL championship team was honored before Saturday’s game. Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith threw out the first pitch to outfielder Willie McGee.

Minnesota beat St. Louis in seven games in the 1987 World Series.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: INF Jedd Gyorko was a late scratch from Saturday’s starting lineup due to right knee soreness. Matheny said Gyorko will likely not start on Sunday, but he will be available for pinch-hitting duty.

UP NEXT:

RHP Michael Wacha (9-4, 3.70) will face RHP R.A. Dickey (7-7, 4.03) in the finale of the three-game series on Sunday. Wacha is 6-0 in 10 career starts in August, the only active pitcher in the majors with a perfect record in the month with at least 10 starts. Dickey is 3-1 with a 4.38 ERA in six career starts against St. Louis.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Paul DeJong had two doubles with three RBI and Randal Grichuk tripled and drove in two as the surging St. Louis Cardinals held off the Atlanta Braves 8-5 on Friday night to win their season-high seventh straight game.

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (12-5) went five innings and retired the final eight batters he saw after pitching out of a no-out, bases loaded jam in the third. Wainwright helped himself get out of the jam with just one run scored by finishing a 3-6-1 double play, the third double play turned by the Cardinals in the first three innings.

Kolten Wong, Matt Carpenter and DeJong each had an RBI double as the Cardinals sent nine batters to the plate in a four-run second inning.

Grichuk started a two-run rally in the third with an RBI triple and scored on a single by Wainwright.

DeJong’s two-run double in the eighth gave the Cardinals breathing room.

Ozzie Albies got the Braves back into it in the sixth with a three-run homer off Brett Cecil, who gave up four runs in 2/3 of an inning. Cecil has allowed runs in three of his last four appearances, including six runs in his last one total an inning of work.

John Brebbia, Zach Duke and Matt Bowman, who earned his second save in four tries, pitched scoreless relief for St. Louis. Duke’s strikeout of Freddie Freeman to end the seventh was pivotal as Freeman entered the game 5 for 6 with two homers against Duke.

Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz (10-7) tied a season-high four walks in 2 2/3 innings, his shortest start this season. Five of the Cardinals seven hits off Foltynewicz went for extra bases as Atlanta lost its fourth straight game.

WELCOME BACK

Braves OF Matt Adams received a standing ovation from the 41,928 fans at Busch Stadium during his first plate appearance since being traded from the Cardinals on May 20.

FELINE FOUND

The Cardinals confirmed that the rally cat was found Friday morning.

The feline ran onto the field in the sixth inning of the Cardinals’ 8-5 win over Kansas City on Wednesday night and Yadier Molina hit a grand slam on the very next pitch after the delay.

The cat was eventually picked up by a female fan, who intended to adopt it and take it home. But the cat jumped from her grasp a couple of blocks from the stadium and was missing until being trapped by a feral animal rescue group.

TRAINING ROOM

Braves: OF Matt Kemp (right hamstring strain) participated in conditioning drills on the field. Atlanta also received minor league INF Kevin Franklin from Cincinnati as the player to be named later to complete the Brandon Phillips trade.

Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn checked out positively after taking a 105 mph line drive off his head Thursday night.

UP NEXT

Braves: RHP Lucas Sims (0-2, 5.25 ERA) will be making his first career start against St. Louis. He was 7-4 in 19 starts with 132 strikeouts in 115 1/3 innings at Triple-A Gwinnett.

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (8-9, 3.52 ERA) tied a career-high by giving up seven runs in five innings in a 13-5 loss to Atlanta on Aug. 6, 2016. He is tied for sixth in the National League with 15 quality starts.

— Associated Press —

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cardinals want to look back on their big comeback as they day they finally put it all together.

Jose Martinez hit his first grand slam during a nine-run fourth inning, and St. Louis overcame Adam Wainwright’s rough return from the disabled list, beating the Cincinnati Reds 13-4 on Sunday.

The Cardinals took two of three in the series, moving them to 55-56. They’ve been stuck near the break-even point since the start of July, unable to get on a streak in large part because of poor clutch hitting.

Problem solved for one day. St. Louis matched its season highs with 16 hits and eight extra-base hits. Every starter except Wainwright had a hit, and seven players drove in a run.

“We’re hoping this is the day we can look back on and say hey, that’s when it started,” said Matt Carpenter, who had a two-run triple.

St. Louis sent 13 batters to the plate for nine runs in the fourth, matching its biggest inning of the season. Martinez connected off Homer Bailey (3-6), who gave up a career-high 10 runs in only 3 1/3 innings. Bailey has been hit hard in his return from surgery to remove bone spurs from his pitching elbow last February.

“It was a little bit of everything,” said Bailey, who allowed 10 hits and walked four. “It was one of those days where I just didn’t have it.”

The Cardinals went 9 for 19 with runners in scoring position, their best clutch hitting of the season. Martinez’s grand slam put them in control.

“We’ve needed that big hit, right?” manager Mike Matheny said. “You’ve heard me talk about that. That’s a good time to have one.”

The big offensive showing overcame a rugged first inning by Wainwright, who had spent the last 12 days on the DL with a stiff back. Joey Votto hit a three-run homer, and Wainwright threw 39 pitches before retiring a batter. Wainwright left after three innings and 88 pitches.

The right-hander was rusty after the layoff and developed a cut near the tip of the nail on his index finger, interfering with his grip on the fastball.

“I had no command of the fastball at all,” he said.

Brett Cecil (2-4) allowed three hits in three innings for the win, dropping the Reds to 6-17 since the All-Star break.

A DEFENSIVE SAVE

The Reds were up 3-0 in the first and had the bases loaded with none out when Carpenter fielded Jesse Winker’s grounder, stepped on first and threw home for a double play that helped Wainwright escape the inning.

BAILEY’S STRUGGLES

Bailey has given up 26 runs in 25 1/3 innings during his last five starts while going 1-4. Elbow and shoulder issues have limited him to 17 starts over the last three seasons. He’s gone 5-10 with a 7.71 ERA. Bailey is in the fourth year of a six-year, $105 million deal.

STATS

The Cardinals also scored nine runs in an inning at Wrigley Field on July 21. The last time the Reds gave up so many runs in an inning was July 25, 2015, when they allowed 10 at Coors Field. … Votto’s 250th career homer extended his hitting streak to 11 games. It was his 135th homer at Great American Ball Park, tying Jay Bruce for the most.

INCOGNITO

David Letterman sat inconspicuously behind home plate and tried to wave himself off the videoboard when he was shown after the eighth inning.

MAKE IT 8

RH Robert Stephenson went on the 10-day DL with a sore pitching shoulder, injured Wednesday when he made a dive for a popped-up bunt. He’s the eighth Reds starter to go on the DL this season. … SS Zack Cozart was activated after recovering from a strained thigh.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: LH Kevin Siegrist went on the 10-day DL with tendinitis in his left forearm. He last pitched on Thursday.

Reds: RH Scott Feldman was expected to start on Monday against the Padres, but has been pushed back a few days to give him more time to recover from a sore right knee.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Carlos Martinez (7-9) faces Jason Vargas (13-5) in the opener of a two-game series in Kansas City. The Royals then visit St. Louis for a pair of games. St. Louis is 3-8 in interleague play this season.

Reds: Tim Adleman (5-9) faces Jhoulys Chacin (11-7) in the opener of a four-game series against the Padres at Great American. Adleman hasn’t pitched since July 29. He’s 0-5 in his last six starts with a 7.34 ERA.

— Associated Press —