ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Duvall is not about to reveal his secret.

The slumping Cincinnati outfielder hit three doubles and a single Sunday, helping the Reds to a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Duvall began the day in a 4-for-35 skid. He spent several hours working in the indoor batting cage after Saturday’s game was postponed by rain — and discovered a flaw.

“Let’s just say I corrected it,” Duvall said. “I can’t talk about it, or give details.”

“But, I was seeing the ball great today,” he said.

Duvall tied a career high with four hits and raised his batting average 33 points to .247.

“He had a huge day,” Cincinnati manager Bryan Price said. “There is always that feeling, even in the times when he’s struggling, that the next day he’s going to come in and bust out and do some damage. He just doesn’t concede to the struggles.”

Joey Votto hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning for the Reds, who had lost eight of their previous nine games.

Votto’s bases-loaded single came off Trevor Rosenthal (0-1). Votto had been 0 for 5 with three strikeouts against the hard-throwing reliever.

“We’ve just got to continue to chug along and get better,” Votto said. “Games like this are how you set a tone.”

Wandy Peralta (1-0) picked up the win by tossing a scoreless seventh inning. Closer Raisel Iglesias threw two innings to record his fourth save in as many chances. It was his second two-inning save of the season.

Duvall, Eugenio Suarez and Scott Schebler drove in runs in the three-run seventh to tie the game.

Devin Mesoraco singled sandwiched around walks to Tucker Barnhart and Billy Hamilton to load the bases against Rosenthal in the eighth. Votto followed with a two-strike single up the middle.

“We never stopping fighting,” Duvall said. “It was a satisfying win.”

St. Louis starter Mike Leake gave up one run on eight hits over seven innings. He is 0-3 against his former team in six career starts.

“They’ve always been a pesky team,” Leake said. “Every time I face them, it seems like they’re a little more into it.”

RAIN GO AWAY

The Cardinals have had three games postponed due to the rain so far, their most ever in the month of April. Saturday’s contest with Cincinnati was called. No makeup date has been announced.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: RHP Homer Bailey will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday. He began the season on the disabled list after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips in his elbow in February.

Cardinals: INF Jhonny Peralta remains on the 10-day disabled list with an adverse reaction to medication taken for a respiratory infection.

UP NEXT

Reds: LHP Amir Garrett (2-2, 5.09) will face Pittsburgh’s RHP Gerrit Cole (1-3, 3.60) on Monday in the first of a four-game series. Garrett did not allow a run in the first two starts covering 12 innings.

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (2-1, 2.55) will take on Milwaukee RHP Zach Davies (2-2, 6.57) in the first of a four-game set on Monday in St. Louis. Wacha is 4-0 in his career against the Brewers.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — It took a little while for the St. Louis Cardinals bats to get going during Thursday’s day-night doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Once they did, they made a big difference.

After rallying late to win the first game, backed by Randal Grichuk’s ninth-inning homer and Matt Carpenter’s 11th inning grand slam, the Cardinals scored early and often in the nightcap to beat the Blue Jays 6-4 and sweep the doubleheader.

“Overall it’s a good day,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “You walk out of here with two wins today. Having our back against the wall in the first one, that’s impressive. I think it says a lot about these guys.”

The Cardinals, who got back to .500 at 11-11, recorded 14 runs and 25 hits in the two games. The injury-plagued Blue Jays, the only team in the majors yet to win a series or consecutive games, fell to 6-16.

“Today was a big day,” said Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (2-3), who earned the win in the nightcap. “We swept a doubleheader here at home. We wanted to play better ball at home this year. That’s one thing we know we’ve got to do and we know we can do.”

The Cardinals, who got three hits apiece from Dexter Fowler, Greg Garcia and Matt Adams in the second game, scored three times in the first inning.

After Fowler and Garcia hit back-to-back singles, Carpenter plated a run with a groundout and Stephen Piscotty hit an RBI sacrifice fly. Grichuk followed with an infield single and scored on Matt Adams’ opposite-field double into the left field corner.

Fowler added a solo home run, his third of the season, in the second inning. Adams had an RBI single in the third. Piscotty had an RBI fielder’s choice in the fourth to make it 6-0.

Matt Bowman (1-0) won the opener and the Cardinals’ bullpen, which included seven different pitchers, combined to allow just one run on four hits in 7 2/3 innings over the two games.

Ryan Tepera (1-1) and Casey Lawrence (0-3) took the losses.

“It could have been a good day,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “Tough first ballgame, then we fell behind early. We made a run. Long, tough day getting swept.”

In the opener, the Cardinals scored four times off Toronto’s bullpen in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to tie the score, capped by Randal Grichuk’s homer off Roberto Osuna.

Yadier Molina led off with a double and Grichuk connected two outs later, giving Osuna his third blown save.

Mat Latos, making his second start of the season for Toronto, scattered three hits over six shutout innings, striking out four and walking four.

Carlos Martinez allowed three runs on five hits in six innings, with eight strikeouts and three walks.

Russell Martin hit a solo homer in the second, his third of the year.

“Over the last week and a half or so we’ve been playing some pretty good baseball,” Garcia said. “To come back in the fashion we did in that first game off a good closer and a good team over there that competed was big for us. Come out, get on those guys early and just kind of play well.”

IN THE CROWD

Nashville Predators defenseman P.K. Subban, who had a goal and two assists in his team’s 4-3 win over the St. Louis Blues in the opener of their second-round playoff series Wednesday night, sat near the Blue Jays’ dugout on his team’s off day.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (blister on right index finger) is expected to throw a side session on Friday and could start Sunday against Tampa Bay. If Sanchez starts Sunday, RHP Marco Estrada will pitch Monday.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (2-3, 3.10) will face the visiting Tampa Bay Rays. Stroman is coming off a complete-game win over the Angels where he allowed two runs on seven hits.

Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (2-1, 2.70) opens a three-game series against the visiting Reds. Lynn won his last two starts, against the Pirates and Brewers, allowing just one run on six hits over 13 innings.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) The St. Louis Cardinals’ game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night has been postponed because of rain.

The game has been rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader on Thursday. The first game will start as scheduled at 12:45 p.m. The makeup game will start at 6:15 p.m.

St. Louis ace Carlos Martinez, who is still in search of his first win, had been scheduled to start Wednesday night. Mat Latos was to start for Toronto.

— Associated Press —

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Mike Leake overcame some uncharacteristic wildness on the mound and helped himself at the plate.

Leake allowed two runs over six innings and drove in two runs to lead St. Louis to a 6-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday, the Cardinals’ sixth win in seven games.

Leake (3-1) gave up three hits and three walks while striking out six. He scored a run in the third inning and his two-run single capped a three-run fourth when St. Louis took a 4-2 lead.

“I thought he pulled it together when he needed to,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “Those lead walks kind of atypical from what we’ve seen, free bases at all, really, with what he’s done and how well he’s controlled the strike zone.”

In his first three starts, Leake had walked just one in 21 1/3 innings. Two of his walks Sunday resulted in runs.

“It was just one of those days, not being able to completely pinpoint where I wanted it,” Leake said. “But, I was able to at least get what I needed done and get a win.”

The Cardinals took advantage of six walks by Jimmy Nelson (1-1) and an error by the Brewers for their first four runs.

Nelson’s lack of command led to the three runs in the fourth. Stephen Piscotty and Randal Grichuk walked to open the inning. Kolton Wong’s one-out double off the glove of center fielder Keon Broxton on the warning track scored Piscotty. Eric Fryer drew a two-out walk and Leake followed with a single to left-center.

“Walks are always frustrating,” said Nelson, who led the N.L. in walks last season with 86 when he struggled to an 8-16 mark. “I went through a stretch there where I lost some (velocity). I haven’t gone back and watched video of it, so it’s still digesting.”

St. Louis made it 6-2 in the eighth on RBI singles by Fryer and pinch-hitter Matt Adams.

Manny Pina opened the ninth inning for Milwaukee with his first homer and Jonathan Villar added an RBI single.

Nelson, who had walked just three in his first three starts, allowed four runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He is now 0-8 in 10 games, including nine starts, against St. Louis.

“He just got in a bad spot to me for that one inning, with the three walks in that one inning,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “That was the inning that really hurt him. I was proud of how he bounced back. He recovered. We were a really nice play from Keon away from really limiting the damage there. But he came back in the fifth and did a really nice job and he got an out in the sixth for us.”

The Brewers took a 1-0 lead in the first when Eric Thames reached on a fielder’s choice and scored from first on Ryan Braun’s double down the left-field line.

The Cardinals answered with an unearned run in the third. Leake reached with two outs on a fielding error by third baseman Travis Shaw. Dexter Fowler walked and Aledmys Diaz followed with an RBI single to left.

Milwaukee countered in the bottom half on a walk to Villar, a single by Thames and Shaw’s sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.

St. Louis won despite several base-running mistakes. Piscotty was caught stealing in the second, Wong was picked off second base by catcher Pina, and Diaz was picked off first in the seventh.

“It hurts when we’re giving away outs,” Matheny said. “Two of those were aggressive, one was maybe not being aware of the situation as well he should be. Just continuing to teach, continuing to try and clean it up, because whether it’s errors in the field or errors on the bases, it’s something that right now we can’t do and expect to win on a consistent basis.”

CARDS HOMER STREAK SNAPPED

St. Louis snapped a streak in which they hit a home run in 24 straight games at Miller Park dating back to Sept. 5, 2014. It was the longest streak by any team at Miller Park or its predecessor, County Stadium. Wong’s drive to the warning track in straightaway center was the closest to going out.

BOWMAN UNSCORED UPON

Right-hander Matt Bowman pitched a perfect seventh, extending his scoreless inning streak to 19 2/3 over 20 games dating back to Sept. 6 of last season when he allowed four runs against Pittsburgh. He has pitched 9 2/3 scoreless innings this season in 11 appearances.

TRAINER’S ROOM:

Cardinals: CF Fowler and SS Diaz, each held out of the starting lineup on Saturday, returned Sunday. Fowler left Friday’s game with a sore heel, while Diaz had a sore back and shoulder. Diaz hit a pinch-hit tie-breaking solo homer on Saturday, although he did not play in the field.

CARPENTER, MATHENY TOSSED

Cardinals 1B Matt Carpenter and manager Mike Matheny were ejected in the seventh inning by home plate umpire John Tumpane after Carpenter was called out on strikes.

UP NEXT:

Cardinals: After a day off, the Cardinals return home to open a three-game set against Toronto on Tuesday. RHP Michael Wacha (2-1, 2.41) makes his fourth start. He allowed just one run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings his last time out.

Brewers: RHP Matt Garza is slated to be activated off the DL (right groin strain) and make his first start of the season to open the three-game series at home on Monday against the Reds. Garza is 4-5 with a 4.84 ERA in 14 career starts vs. Cincinnati, including 0-2 last season.

— Associated Press —

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Aledmys Diaz hit a go-ahead pinch-homer in the seventh inning, Lance Lynn pitched six strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1 Saturday night.

Diaz, who didn’t start at shortstop due to back stiffness and a sore shoulder, homered leading off the seventh against reliever Carlos Torres (0-2).

Lynn (2-1) gave up a run and three hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.

Seung Hwan Oh got his fourth save in five tries.

Travis Shaw had an RBI double in the first for Milwaukee, and the Cardinals tied it at 1 in the fourth on Ryan Braun’s two-base error. Braun made a diving catch on Kolten Wong’s soft liner, but his throw to second from his knees sailed out of play down the first-base line, allowing a run to score.

St. Louis tacked on two runs in the ninth. Jedd Gyorko drove in a run with a triple and scored on an outfield throwing error.

The Brewers loaded the bases in the eighth, but Brett Cecil got Shaw to pop out to third to end the inning.

Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson didn’t allow an earned run in six innings. He surrendered six hits, struck out six and walked one.

The Brewers failed to hit a home run for the first time in 14 games. Eric Thames, who leads Milwaukee with eight home runs, drew three walks.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Dexter Fowler, who left Friday night’s game with right heel bursitis, remained out of the lineup. “Half a game is not going to be enough to straighten something out,” Matheny said. “He came in today in better shape, which is encouraging. A good chance to get him back in there tomorrow.”

Brewers: RHP Matt Garza (right groin strain) threw a bullpen session on Saturday as he prepares to make his first start of the season Monday against Cincinnati. Manager Craig Counsell said Garza threw 87 pitches in his last minor league rehab start and won’t be held to a specific pitch count. “He’s fine to do whatever. No restrictions,” Counsell said.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Mike Leake (2-1, 0.84 ERA) leads the National League in ERA. He is 4-4 with a 4.30 ERA in 13 career starts against Milwaukee. Leake was 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA with 20 strikeouts and two walks facing the Brewers last season.

Brewers: Jimmy Nelson (1-0, 4.42) is 0-7 with a 7.34 ERA in nine career games (eight starts) against St. Louis. He went 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in three versus the Cardinals last season.

— Associated Press —

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers just might have to start giving fans in the outfield seats batting helmets.

Jett Bandy, Eric Thames and Travis Shaw each hit home runs to help the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 on Thursday night.

Bandy hit a two-run homer to left in the sixth and Thames put Milwaukee ahead with a two-run shot to center off Carlos Martinez (0-3) in the fifth. Shaw’s three-run blast in the first made it 12 consecutive games that the Brewers have homered. They lead the majors with 32 home runs.

Shaw’s fifth home run of the season traveled 458 feet and smacked off the facing of the third deck in right.

“The first day Travis was here, he took BP and saw some balls go to places I hadn’t seen in a while,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.

Thames jumped all over a mistake from Martinez.

“Carlos Martinez is nasty,” Thames said. “He’s got a good fastball, good changeup, really good slider. I was trying to get something to hit and I put a barrel on it.”

Martinez gave up a career-high five runs to the Brewers on seven hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out seven.

“We’ve watched him pretty closely,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Thames. “He’s obviously hot and on a pretty impressive run. The home run looked to me like it had more of the plate than we wanted and up more a little bit more than what maybe we’d like.”

After he got out of the first, Martinez retired the side in order the next three innings before Thames’ home run.

“He did find a nice groove after that (first inning),” Matheny said. “Unfortunately, by then, we already had some trouble to deal with.”

Zach Davies (1-2) allowed four runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five, but needed Thames’ NL-leading eighth home run and seventh in the last eight games for his first win in four starts.

Jacob Barnes pitched the ninth for his first save of the season.

Matt Carpenter hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth and Kolten Wong, whose career-high seven triples led the Cardinals in 2016, hit his first of the season in the top of the second with the bases loaded.

Jedd Gyorko hit a solo home run leading off the Cardinals’ eighth.

HOME RUN BATS

The Brewers have hit two or more home runs in a franchise-best six consecutive games and the 11th time overall.

CARPENTER HEATS UP MILLER PARK

Carpenter’s home run was his sixth at Miller Park and his highest total at any ballpark other than Busch Stadium.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Infielder Jhonny Peralta was put on the 10-day disabled list because of an upper respiratory condition. He sat out the four previous games, and the move was retroactive to Sunday. He is hitting .120 (3 for 25) with no RBI in eight games.

“Ever since we left camp, he’s been dealing with some upper respiratory issues that I think they (medical staff) were trying to identify,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. “They were having him use different medications. Unfortunately, it just didn’t sit well with him.”

Brewers: With right-hander Matt Garza (right groin strain) appearing ready to return from his rehab assignments, manager Craig Counsell must decide how Garza fits into the pitching staff.

LYONS BACK

St. Louis recalled left-hander Tyler Lyons before Thursday night’s game. His 2016 season ended July 31 because of a right knee stress reaction. He made three appearances in rehabilitation games with Triple-A Memphis this season, allowing two runs in 14 innings.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (0-3, 7.24 ERA) makes his fourth start of the season. With a win, he passes Dizzy Dean (134) for sole possession of 6th place all-time in franchise history. He is 14-8 (2.16 ERA) in 28 career starts against the Brewers.

Brewers: RHP Wily Peralta (3-0, 2.65) makes his fourth start of the season and 17th overall against the Cardinals who have been tough on him. He is 0-7 with a 4.85 ERA in his last nine starts against St. Louis.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Dexter Fowler feels his swing is getting closer to what he expects.

Fowler hit his first two home runs for the St. Louis Cardinals, who swept the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday for their third straight 2-1 victory over Pittsburgh.

“I feel like I’ve been swinging the bat for the past few days pretty good,” Fowler said. “I just haven’t had the results. I’ve been sticking with it.”

Fowler, who left the World Series champion Chicago Cubs to sign an $82.5 million, five-year contract with St. Louis, was hitting .132 after going hitless in four at-bats Monday.

He rebounded with a triple on Tuesday and had three of the Cardinals’ eight hits Wednesday, including a third-inning drive into the right-field bullpen and a shot down the right-field line in the fifth, both off Gerrit Cole (1-2).

“He got a couple pitches that were up and put good swings on them,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.

Fowler said his experience helped him deal with the rough start.

“It was just something mechanical that caused a lot of problems, and I got that straightened out,” he said. “Ever since I corrected that I’ve been feeling a lot better.”

Josh Bell had tied the score with a fourth-inning homer to center against Michael Wacha (2-1), who had retired his first 10 batters.

St. Louis is 6-9, winning its opener and losing nine of 11 before the sweep.

“It’s huge,” Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter said of the sweep. “It was just a much better series for us.”

Wacha allowed one run and four hits in 6 ⅔ innings. Matt Bowman relieved with two on and struck out Jordy Mercer to end the seventh, and Kevin Siegrist worked around a walk and two errors in the eighth. Pittsburgh left the bases loaded when Carpenter, who committed the first error, made a diving stop at first base and raced to beat Gregory Polanco to first.

“I’m just trying to stay locked in and make a play to help get us out of an ugly inning,” Carpenter said. “Thankfully, Siegrist made another good pitch and worked his way out of it. I was able to make a play for him, and we were able to limit the damage there.”

With closer Seung Hwan Oh unavailable after pitching the two previous games, former closer Trevor Rosenthal pitched the ninth. John Jaso singled with one out, Rosenthal threw a called third strike past Mercer, then struck out Jose Osuna for his first save this season.

Cole gave up six hits in six innings, struck out eight and walked none.

SNAPPING STREAKS

Jaso and Aledmys Diaz both stopped 18-at-bat hitless streaks. Jaso, who made his first big-league start in right field, singled in the fifth inning off Wacha. Diaz, the Cardinals shortstop, had a pinch-hit infield single in the seventh off Felipe Rivero.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Carpenter returned to the lineup after missing two games because of an injured ring finger on his right (throwing) hand.

UP NEXT

Pirates: RHP Tyler Glasnow (0-1, 12.15) will make the first interleague start of his career Friday, the opener of a three-game series against the visiting New York Yankees.

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (0-2, 3.57) will open a four-game series at Milwaukee on Thursday. He is 4-1 with a 1.36 ERA in eight starts and 11 relief appearances against the Brewers.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mike Leake doesn’t have too many secrets on the mound. For the Cardinals right-hander, location is everything.

Leake owned the strike zone while pitching into the seventh inning, Dexter Fowler tripled and scored, and St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 2-1 on Tuesday night after Pirates outfielder Starling Marte was suspended 80 games for a banned substance earlier in the day.

“It’s just where he’s putting every pitch, and he’s able to throw every pitch on both sides of the plate and I’d say that sinker and cutter are closer to the same velocity, but you’re kind of working off the middle and running it to both sides,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Leake. “That’s a tough at-bat if you’re putting it on the corner.”

Seung Hwan Oh allowed three hits in the ninth but escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam for his second save.

Leake (2-1) allowed seven hits and only struck out one, but he held the Pirates to a run over 6 1/3 innings. He has won nine of his last 11 decisions against the Pirates dating to Sept. 11, 2012.

“He throws strikes,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “… He makes pitches, he’s very effective, he competes very well on the mound. He’s a guy that we’ve been challenged by.”

Leake has continued a strong spring through his first three starts of the season. He leads the rotation in wins, ERA (0.84) and innings pitched (21 1/3).

“I think this spring was a big spring for me and just kind of letting it translate into the season is as big,” Leake said.

The Cardinals have won back-to-back games for the first time this season to improve to 5-9.

“We get some positive ju-ju going our way and we’re eliminating our mistakes and that’s how we’re winning games,” Fowler said.

Chad Kuhl (1-1) gave up two runs over six innings. He allowed three hits and struck out three.

Fowler led off the first with a triple to right and scored on Stephen Piscotty’s ground out.

Greg Garcia’s double in the fifth scored Jose Martinez to make it 2-0 Cardinals. Garcia was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.

Brett Cecil, Matt Bowman and Oh pitched scoreless relief for St. Louis. Bowman extended his scoreless streak to 17 1/3 innings dating to last season.

Adam Frazier scored the Pirates’ run on a groundout by Gregory Polanco in the sixth.

OUTFIELD SHIFT

Marte was suspended by Major League Baseball after testing positive for Nandrolone. He’s eligible to return in mid-July but won’t be allowed to play in the postseason if Pittsburgh advances.

Andrew McCutchen played center field for the first time this season in Marte’s absence and extended his hitting streak to nine games with a first-inning single. McCutchen was 2 for 4 and is hitting .333 (12 for 36) during his run.

McCutchen was moved from center to right this spring so the Pirates could shift Marte from left to center.

“Center field is where I need to play, it’s where I need to be,” McCutchen said. “If I’ve got to show a couple of people that I can do it then that’s what I’m going to do.”

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

Hurdle successfully challenged an out call on Jordy Mercer in the ninth. Mercer beat Oh to the bag and the review gave the Pirates bases loaded with just one out, but Oh threw out a runner at home on a ground ball and then got Frazier to fly out to left to end it.

TRAINING ROOM

Pirates: OF Jose Osuna was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to fill Marte’s spot.

Cardinals: INF Matt Carpenter missed his second straight game after taking a batted ball off of his hand Sunday. Carpenter hopes to return Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Pirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (1-1, 5.29 ERA) is looking for his second straight win after a six-inning, two-run effort at Chicago on Friday. He is 5-3 with a 2.82 ERA in 10 career starts against St. Louis.

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (1-1, 3.00 ERA) had a six-game winning streak snapped in his last outing. He is 3-2 with a 4.25 ERA in 11 career games against Pittsburgh.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Lance Lynn pitched seven shutout innings, Kolten Wong homered and the St. Louis Cardinals stopped a three-game losing streak, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Monday night.

The Cardinals, who had lost six of seven, are 4-9 and still have the worst record in the NL. Pittsburgh had won three in a row before losing in a game that took only 2 hours, 14 minutes.

Lynn (1-1) allowed three hits and struck out five while walking one. He also hit two batters.

Seung-Hwan Oh worked around an RBI double by pinch hitter Gregory Polanco in the ninth to record the Cardinals’ first save of the season. The last time it took St. Louis 13 games into a season to get a save was 1980, when Mark Littell closed out the Phillies at Veterans Stadium.

Ivan Nova (1-2) gave up five hits and no walks in eight innings while striking out three. In 14 overall starts for the Pirates, Nova has four complete games and a grand total of three walks.

Wong led off the third with a home run that landed in the right field bullpen.

St. Louis added a run in the seventh when Randal Grichuk singled, stole second, took third on a throwing error by catcher Francisco Cervelli and scored on a single by Jose Martinez.

Trevor Rosenthal pitched a spotless eighth for the Cardinals. Polanco doubled with two outs in the ninth before Oh retired pinch hitter John Jaso on a grounder.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: Polanco did not start for the third game due to right groin discomfort.

Cardinals: 1B Matt Carpenter did not start. He was hit in the bare hand on a groundout Sunday night against the Yankees. He appeared to damage the nail on his right ring finger.

TRADE

Pittsburgh acquired RHP Johnny Barbato from the New York Yankees on Monday for a player to be named or cash. Barbato, 24, was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis where he will work as a reliever. He was designated for assignment by the Yankees on Wednesday.

STREAKS

The Pirates’ Josh Harrison was hit by Lynn’s pitch in the second inning and in the fourth inning. That marked four consecutive plate appearances he was hit by a pitch. … Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen singled to left in the first inning. He has hit safely in eight consecutive games.

UP NEXT

Pirates: RHP Chad Kuhl (0-1, 2.38 ERA) will make his third start. The 24-year-old Kuhl is 0-1 with a 6.43 ERA in two career starts against the Cardinals.

Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (1-1, 3.00 ERA) will make his third outing coming off pitching seven scoreless innings in a 6-1 win at Washington. He is 9-5 with a 3.36 ERA in 28 starts against Pittsburgh.

— Associated Press —

WASHINGTON (AP) — Going up against the 2016 NL Cy Young winner and facing the prospect of stumbling to their worst start in 20 years, the St. Louis Cardinals played their best game of the young season.

Mike Leake outpitched Max Scherzer, Stephen Piscotty homered and had five RBI, and the Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 6-1 on Wednesday to avoid a three-game sweep.

After yielding 22 runs in the first two games of the series, St. Louis dodged its first 2-7 start since 1997.

“Leake did a tremendous job on the mound and we played good defense,” Piscotty said. “It was a good win, and we needed it.”

Leake (1-1) gave up four hits, struck out seven and walked none over seven shutout innings. The right-hander allowed hits to the first two batters, then picked off a runner before getting 19 straight outs. The streak ended when Daniel Murphy singled with two outs in the seventh.

By that time, St. Louis had taken a 3-0 lead against Scherzer, who yielded only one earned run. He did, however, throw three wild pitches — two in the third inning — after tossing only two all last year while going 20-7.

Scherzer (1-1) allowed three runs, four hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out 10, the 50th time in his career he reached double figures in strikeouts.

“At the end of the day, even when you get punched in the face, you still do some things well,” Scherzer said. “I was able to get a lot of swings and misses and was able to get my cut slider into lefties really well.

“Other times, I pitched ineffectively. This doesn’t feel great, but I’m in a situation where I’m ready to go forward with my next start and pitch well.”

With Leake leading the way, the Cardinals rebounded from a three-game skid in which they were outscored 30-9.

“It’s ideal,” Leake said of his performance. “It’s what you ask for from a starting pitcher after you’ve been beat down for a couple games.”

Leake permitted only two runners past first base and reduced his ERA to 0.60.

“What a great day — seven shutout innings against this team,” manager Mike Matheny said.

After Leake was pulled, Adam Eaton hit an RBI single in the eighth inning and Washington put runners at the corners with two outs before Brett Cecil got Bryce Harper to line out to third.

Piscotty’s drive in the ninth ended any remaining suspense. He also had run-scoring singles in the first and fifth innings in tying his career high for RBI.

St. Louis used a walk and a double by Piscotty to go up 1-0 in the first inning.

In the bottom half, Eaton doubled and took third on a single by Anthony Rendon. Not long after that, a replay requested by the Cardinals revealed that Leake picked off Rendon.

“That’s a game changer,” Matheny said.

Nationals manager Dusty Baker agreed, noting, “We had him on the ropes and then the pickoff.”

Leake subsequently struck out Harper and retired Murphy on a comebacker.

St. Louis took advantage of an error by shortstop Wilmer Difo to score two unearned runs in the fifth.

PERALTA STRUGGLES

Matheny is exercising patience while waiting for three-time All-Star Jhonny Peralta to break a hitting slump.

Peralta is 3 for 20 with eight strikeouts and no walks.

“He’s run against good guys making good pitches,” said Matheny, who sat Peralta on Wednesday. “We have to let him run the course.”

TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: 1B Matt Carpenter returned to the starting lineup after back tightness limited him to a pinch-hitting role on Tuesday.

Nationals: Placed INF Stephen Drew on the 10-day DL with a strained right hamstring. The injury occurred Tuesday night. He’s been replaced on the roster by INF Grant Green.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: The team intended to travel by train to New York on Wednesday night, take Thursday off and start a three-game series at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.

Nationals: Following an off day Thursday, Washington opens a three-game series against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

— Associated Press —