SAN DIEGO (AP) — Looking to avoid getting swept for the first time this season one night after getting shut out, Stephen Piscotty and the St. Louis Cardinals struck early and often.

Piscotty homered twice and drove in five runs and Michael Wacha pitched six solid innings to help the Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 10-3 Sunday.

Jason Heyward had three hits as St. Louis improved its major league-leading record to 78-45 and averted a sweep.

“We all knew today was an important day to bounce back,” Piscotty said. “Every game is important, but everyone had a great game, hit the ball hard, and had a lot of energy. That’s what we’re going to keep going with the momentum.”

Wacha (15-4) picked up his fourth straight win and added to his career-best win total by allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out three and walked two.

“I definitely would say my stuff wasn’t as sharp as it had been,” Wacha said. “Those guys were putting together some good at-bats and I had to work out of some jams and letting the defense play behind me. They were making plays all night.”

The Cardinals scored four in the first against rookie Colin Rea, who was making his third start.

San Diego made two errors in the first inning and the Cardinals capitalized with three hits, including Piscotty’s two-run triple.

“It was a lot of fun out there,” Wacha said. “The offense exploded for a lot of runs, and made my day easy out there. It was a fun day.”

Rea (2-1) struggled early and made a throwing error in the first that contributed to the Cardinals’ rally. The 25-year-old Rea gave up five runs — four earned — over four innings. He struck out four and walked two.

“I think for the most part, I wasn’t very efficient,” Rea said. “I threw a lot of pitches to each hitter. I think that was the biggest thing.”

The Cardinals scored three runs in the seventh against Odrisamer Despaigne. Heyward tripled home a run and Piscotty hit a solo shot to left.

Piscotty, who had been hitless in 10 at-bats coming into the game, hit a two-run shot against Craig Kimbrel in the ninth for Piscotty’s first career multi-homer game.

“(Piscotty) made the most of a few big opportunities and had a nice day,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “He just had a nice overall approach. He needed to kind of right the ship.”

Matt Kemp singled home two runs in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.

“This game looks like a blowout, and for all practical purposes it was, but we had some great at-bats,” Padres manager Pat Murphy said. “I think one inning we had four line drives and came up empty.”

Justin Upton had two hits for the Padres, who had won five straight.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: C Derek Norris is day-to-day with a left wrist contusion after X-rays following Saturday night’s game were negative.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (9-8, 2.94) will take the mound in the series opener in Arizona on Monday, looking to reach 10 wins for the fourth straight season. The D-Backs counter with LHP Robbie Ray (2-9, 3.38).

Padres: RHP James Shields (9-5, 3.74) opens the series on Tuesday in Washington going for a second straight win. Shields shut out the Braves over six innings in his last start. Washington will counter with RHP Stephen Strasburg (7-6, 4.22).

— Associated Press —

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ian Kennedy combined with five relievers on an eight-hitter and Matt Kemp and Justin Upton keyed a seven-run seventh inning, leading the San Diego Padres to an 8-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night.

Kennedy (8-11) allowed the first two runners to reach base in the seventh before three relievers each struck out a batter.

San Diego then sent 12 men to the plate in the bottom of the inning, keyed by Kemp’s two-run, bases-loaded single and Upton’s two-run double, both off reliever Seth Maness, that made it 5-0.

A throwing error by St. Louis third baseman Mark Reynolds then led to three unearned runs in the inning.

The loss reduced St. Louis’ lead in the NL Central to 3 1-2 games over Pittsburgh, which beat San Francisco 3-2.

The Padres, who have won nine of 11, tied their season high with their fifth straight win.

— Associated Press —

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Yangervis Solarte hit a two-run homer in a wild five-run fifth inning and Travis Jankowski had two hits, an RBI and scored a run in his big league debut as the San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals 9-3 Friday night.

The Cardinals, who still have the best record in the majors at 77-44, committed three errors in the fifth behind John Lackey (10-8), who allowed four hits, a walk and a wild pitch in that frame.

Matt Kemp and pinch-hitter Brett Wallace each had a two-run homer in the eighth for San Diego, which won its fourth straight game and sixth in seven. Kemp also had a single and extended his hitting streak to 13 games. It was his 15th homer and Wallace’s third.

The carnage for the Cardinals in the fifth started when Andrew Cashner (5-12) bunted to advance Alexi Amarista, who opened with a single.

First baseman Mark Reynolds fielded the ball near the bag and tried for a reverse double play, but his throw sailed into left field.

Stephen Piscotty’s throw to third base sailed into the Cardinals’ dugout, allowing Amarista to score and Cashner to take third. Jankowski, batting ninth behind Cashner, singled to left to bring in the pitcher for his first career RBI.

Solarte then homered to right to bring in Jankowski for his first MLB run. It was Solarte’s third homer in as many games and 10th overall.

Yonder Alonso walked and advanced on a wild pitch before Kemp struck out for the first out. Justin Upton singled for his 600th career RBI.

Jankowski was called up Wednesday from Triple-A El Paso, a day after outfielder Will Venable was traded to Texas. Jankowski singled to center in his first at-bat, in the third. He is the ninth player in franchise history to record two or more hits in his big league debut, and the fourth with two or more hits and one RBI.

Cashner held St. Louis to one run, unearned, and four hits in six innings while striking out eight and walking two.

Lackey allowed five runs, four earned, and nine hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked one.

Yadier Molina hit an RBI single in the first and St. Louis pulled to 5-3 in the seventh after Piscotty hit a sacrifice fly and Tommy Pham an RBI triple.

Johnny Peralta had three hits for St. Louis.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: RF Jason Heyward was a late addition to the lineup, after proving his hamstring was fine.

Padres: RHP Brandon Morrow had season-ending shoulder surgery on Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (12-5, 2.78) is scheduled to start Saturday night. He got a no-decision in St. Louis’ 2-1 victory against the Padres on July 4. Cardinals are 18-4 in his 22 starts this season.

Padres: RHP Ian Kennedy (7-11, 4.20) lost 3-1 to the Cardinals on July 5.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny guessed right batting Yadier Molina cleanup for the first time all season.

Molina capped an impressive game with his 100th career homer in the bottom of the eighth that snapped a tie in a 4-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.

“Good timing,” Molina said, encapsulating the day. “I got to help my team win.”

Molina added an RBI single in the first and, from his knees, threw out Kelby Tomlinson trying to steal in the seventh. Molina has done that a handful of times this season.

“He’s the best catcher in baseball by far,” St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia said. “He’s the best, he’s awesome.”

Molina was proudest of his second homer in three days. He’s hit just four homers this year after averaging 14 long balls in each of his previous four seasons.

“I mean, I can’t lie to you, I was thinking about it,” Molina said. “I was hoping to do it early enough so I could get it out of the way.”

Rookie Stephen Piscotty homered in the third for St. Louis, which took two of three from the NL West-contending Giants. The Cardinals are 77-43 overall and 46-19 at home, both tops in the majors.

“They found a way to win, that’s why their record is what it is,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

Kevin Siegrist (5-0) allowed a walk in the eighth and Trevor Rosenthal earned his 38th save in 40 chances, striking out pinch-hitting pitcher Madison Bumgarner to end it.

Bumgarner’s first career pinch hit led to a Giants insurance run in Tuesday’s 2-0 victory.

“Ain’t nobody going to try to give anybody any mercy,” Bumgarner said. “Anybody that goes up there in that situation is going to get his best.”

Siegrist won both of the games in the series, both over Hunter Strickland (2-3), and the Cardinals wrapped up a 6-3 homestand with three 2-1 series wins and have won six consecutive series overall.

Molina led off the eighth by lining an 0-1 breaking ball from Strickland into the left field stands for his fourth homer of the year. Both pitches from Strickland, a power pitcher, were sliders, and Molina said, “I was surprised he didn’t come with the fastball.”

Brandon Crawford and Tomlinson had two hits and an RBI apiece for the Giants, who missed a chance to pull one game behind the Dodgers.

Piscotty’s second career homer put the Cardinals ahead 2-0 in the third, two innings after center fielder Juan Perez scaled the wall to rob him of a long ball in one of the top defensive plays of the season at Busch Stadium.

The Giants’ Matt Cain ended a run of four poor starts, allowing two runs in six innings, and contributed a bases-loaded sacrifice fly. Garcia gave up three runs in 6 1/3 innings.

The Cardinals manufactured the tying run in the seventh on two hits, one of them an unintentional swinging bunt by Brandon Moss, a fielder’s choice RBI and a sacrifice bunt. Rookie Tommy Pham’s headfirst slide dislodged the ball from catcher Andrew Susac on Matt Carpenter’s grounder to second.

BIG STICKS

Crawford has nine extra-base hits during a career-high 13-game hitting streak. … Piscotty leads St. Louis with a .333 batting average since making his major league debut July 21. … Molina broke a tie with the Giants’ Buster Posey for ninth among active catchers in homers.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: OF Angel Pagan (knee) is expected to be activated off the DL on time Aug. 25.

Cardinals: Jason Heyward (hamstring) missed his second straight start but grounded out as a pinch-hitter to end the eighth. 1B Matt Adams (quad) is running near full speed.

UP NEXT

Giants: Jake Peavy (3-5, 4.18) is 5-2 with a 2.52 ERA in eight career starts against Pittsburgh.

Cardinals: St. Louis has a day off before beginning a 10-game trip to San Diego, Arizona and San Francisco. John Lackey (10-7, 2.87) will be seeking his 13th consecutive quality start Friday against the Padres.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The San Francisco Giants got a rally-starting at-bat from an unusual source.

The bad news: No doubt Madison Bumgarner might be picking up a bat more often whenever the team needs a little kick.

“Yeah, now we’ve got to hear it from him for a few days, saying how easy that was,” manager Bruce Bochy said after Bumgarner’s first career pinch-hit helped produce an insurance run in a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

“Good at-bat, good two-out rally. Getting that second run, that’s huge,” said Bumgarner, the MVP of the 2014 World Series.

The man Bumgarner batted for joked that he wasn’t all that impressed.

“I probably would have gotten a hit,” starter Ryan Vogelsong said.

Vogelsong had it working on the mound after a slow start, allowing two hits over six innings.

“This time of year is fun,” the right-hander said. “I know it’s only August but the stretch we’re in right now, this is almost like playoff baseball for us.”

Brandon Crawford doubled leading off the fifth for the Giants’ first hit when left fielder Brandon Moss couldn’t quite hold onto his drive down the line near both walls. He had a run-scoring groundout in the sixth for the first run.

The Giants have won six of eight and handed the Cardinals, who got a strong rebound outing from Lance Lynn, just their 19th home loss compared with 45 wins.

The teams have combined for five runs the first two games of a three-game series.

“It was a clean game,” St. Louis rookie Stephen Piscotty said. “They got their timely hits and we just didn’t do it tonight, and that’s why there’s always tomorrow.”

Vogelsong (9-8) struck out five and walked one while throwing 101 pitches. It was his third straight start in place of Mike Leake, who was acquired at the non-waiver trade deadline, but has been sidelined by a hamstring injury.

Vogelsong found out he would be starting on Monday.

“You’ve still got to watch video and stuff on these guys and know what you want to do when you get in there,” he said.

Bumgarner is 1 for 5 as a pinch-hitter in his career after cashing in on his first chance this year, the two-out single in the seventh. The 14-game winner shut out the Washington Nationals on Sunday and hit his fourth homer of the season.

Lynn (9-8) was lifted after walking Gregor Blanco and Matt Duffy to load the bases, and Randy Choate hit Brandon Belt to force in Bumgarner for a 2-0 lead. Seth Maness then struck out Buster Posey for the final out.

Lynn allowed four hits in 6 2/3 innings, five days after the shortest start of his career when he recorded just two outs in a loss to Pittsburgh. He walked a season-high five, one intentional.

“Two hits aren’t going to do it,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “But that’s a great rebound start for Lance after his last one.”

Santiago Casilla got the last three outs to finish the two-hitter and earn his 29th save in 34 chances.

Threat of heavy rain that never really materialized delayed the start for 31 minutes.

RARITY

Bumgarner’s pinch-hit was the first by a Giants pitcher since Kirk Reuter on Aug. 17, 2004, against Montreal.

ON THE BOARD

San Francisco LF Ryan Lollis, a 37th-round draft pick out of Missouri in 2009, singled in the eighth for his first career hit.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: OF Hunter Pence is expected to miss at least two weeks with a left oblique injury after undergoing an MRI earlier Tuesday. He was injured on a fly out in the ninth on Monday.

Cardinals: OF Jason Heyward was out of the lineup, but the injury was not believed to be serious, perhaps just cramping, and he could return soon.

UP NEXT

San Francisco RHP Matt Cain (2-3, 6.05 ERA) is 0-2 with an 8.24 ERA in his last four outings. Jaime Garcia (5-4, 1.57 ERA) was the first member of the Cardinals’ rotation to pitch into the ninth inning his last time out.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — This time, the San Francisco Giants saw the real Michael Wacha.

The St. Louis Cardinals right-hander insisted last year’s NL championship series failure was absolutely not on his mind preparing to face the Giants for the first time this season.

“I mean, everyone seems to make it out like I was going out for vengeance or something, like I was after these guys since Day 1,” Wacha said after working seven dominant innings in the Cardinals’ 2-1 victory on Monday night.

“Everyone tries to amp it up and make a story out of it, but I was just trying to approach it just like another game.”

Rookie Stephen Piscotty tripled and scored the go-ahead run on Mark Reynolds’ groundout in the eighth.

The run came a little too late for Wacha, who allowed one run on six hits with six strikeouts but missed a chance to become the majors’ first 15-game winner. The right-hander surrendered an NL championship series-ending homer to Travis Ishikawa last fall in his lone appearance of the postseason.

“That’s something he’s not going to forget,” manager Mike Matheny said. “I think it’s served him well.”

Yadier Molina hit his third homer off Chris Heston leading off the fourth for St. Louis. The Giants tied it on Brandon Crawford’s two-out RBI triple in the sixth.

The Cardinals have won nine of 12, ended the Giants’ four-game winning streak, and lead Pittsburgh by six games in the NL Central. They’re tops in the majors in overall record (76-42) and home record (45-18).

“It feels good to contribute,” Piscotty said. “It’s just so much fun.”

Kevin Siegrist (4-0) worked a perfect eighth against the top of the Giants order and Trevor Rosenthal earned his 37th save in 39 chances when pinch-hitter Buster Posey flied out to the wall in center.

“I knew I hit it good, but I knew it was also a little high,” Posey said.

Piscotty tripled off Hunter Strickland (2-2) with one out in the eighth and Brandon Moss was intentionally walked. On the deciding play, Crawford fielded Reynolds’ grounder and ran to second for a forceout after struggling to get a firm grip and then spun and threw wide to first, missing a chance at a double play.

“It was a ball that wasn’t hit hard enough or soft enough that I could come home, so we wanted to turn it right there — and since I was close enough to the bag, to take it myself,” Crawford said.

Rosenthal tied Pittsburgh’s Mark Melancon for the National League lead. Piscotty is 6 for 10 in the last three games, scoring five runs.

Heston is 0-3 in four outings this month, failing to last five innings in three of them. He was undone by five walks in 4 2/3 innings and has walked 16 in 26 2/3 his last five outings.

“I think finding the strike zone is kind of an issue right now,” Heston said.

After surrendering Molina’s homer, Heston walked the bases full later in the fourth before striking out Kolten Wong to end the threat.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: RHP Tim Lincecum (hips) is scheduled to face hitters in a simulated game later this week.

Cardinals: Jason Heyward made his first start of the year in CF, but was taken out after two innings due to left hamstring tightness. Matheny said Heyward was undergoing tests after being unable to get the hamstring loose.

“We made the proactive move of just getting him out,” Matheny said. “We’re not going to go any further.”

Matt Adams (quad) leaves for Florida later this week to begin baseball activity and could begin a rehab assignment soon after that.

UP NEXT

Ryan Vogelsong (8-8, 4.15) will start after the Giants decided not to activate Mike Leake, who had been scheduled to come off the 15-day disabled list after recovering from a hamstring injury. The Cardinals’ Lance Lynn (9-7, 2.95) is coming off the shortest outing of his career, lasting just two-thirds of an inning and surrendering seven runs — three earned — in a loss to Pittsburgh.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Derek Dietrich is going to need a new nickname.

Dietrich drove in three runs, Dee Gordon had three hits, and the Miami Marlins broke a six-game losing streak against St. Louis with a 6-4 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday.

Adeiny Hechavarria had two hits and scored two runs as Miami won for the fourth time in six games.

Dietrich entered with an odd stat line of seven homers and 11 RBI in 51 games this season. His teammates jokingly called him “Seven-Eleven Man,” due to the quirky totals.

“I got the guys teasing me about that,” he said. “But, I was just trying to have quality at-bats with guys on base. Hopefully, I can just keep that going.”

Jason Heyward homered twice and drove in three runs for St. Louis, which sports the best home record in the majors at 44-18. Stephen Piscotty also went deep for his first major league homer.

The Cardinals had a 3-1 lead before the Marlins scored four times in the fifth. The big blow was a bases-loaded triple for Dietrich, who had just one homer and three RBI for the month coming into the day.

“He came through for us, we definitely needed that,” Gordon said.

Chris Narveson (1-0) pitched 2 2/3 innings for the win. He also drove in Hechavarria with a squeeze bunt in the fifth. Hechavarria was first called out, but the play was overturned after a 2 minute, 50 second replay review.

A.J. Ramos pitched the ninth for his 19th save in 24 opportunities.

An error by St. Louis second baseman Kolten Wong and a single from Gordon set up Dietrich’s big triple down the right-field line.

“When you beat those guys you’ve got to earn it,” manager Dan Jennings said. “I thought we played an outstanding game. A tremendous job by the bullpen.”

Miami starter David Phelps left in the third with right elbow stiffness and will be placed on the disabled list on Monday.

“We’re going to send him back to Miami,” Jennings said. “He’ll have it tested down there.”

Carlos Martinez (12-5) pitched five innings for St. Louis, allowing five runs, one earned, and seven hits.

Heyward connected in his first two at-bats against Phelps for his sixth career multihomer game and his first since Aug. 17, 2013 for Atlanta at Washington. Heyward’s last four homers have come against Miami.

“It was a good start, it got us some runs early,” Heyward said. “I’m just trying to keep it simple and get some good swings on some pitches.”

The Cardinals, who lead Pittsburgh by five games in the NL Central, won their first five games between the teams this season and also won the last final regular-season contest against Miami last year.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: RHP Jarred Cosart will pitch in a simulated game on Monday. If all goes well, he will head out on a rehabilitation assignment. Cosart has been slowed by vertigo.

Cardinals: OF Randal Grichuk left in the eighth inning with an elbow injury. He will be examined on Monday. “We need a closer look to make sure it is something he can play though,” manager Mike Matheny said.

NEXT UP

Marlins: LHP Justin Nicolino (1-1, 4.86 ERA) will face Brewers RHP Matt Garza (6-12, 4.82 ERA) in the opener of a three-game series in Milwaukee on Monday. Nicolino is making his fourth major league start.

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (14-4, 2.93 ERA) takes on San Francisco RHP Chris Heston (11-7, 3.38 ERA) in the opener of a three-game set on Monday. Wacha is tied for the NL lead in wins.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — John Lackey’s only disappointment, and it was mild, was getting lifted two outs shy of a complete game.

The 36-year-old right-hander wasn’t surprised to see manager Mike Matheny after allowing a one-out hit in the ninth inning of the St. Louis Cardinals’ 6-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. Although he’s successfully lobbied in the past, he just gave up the ball.

“He kind of told me I was going hitter to hitter. You can’t do that every time; it’s not as effective the next time,” Lackey said with a laugh.

Lackey gave the Cardinals an unexpected bonus with two hits and an RBI. He entered a career .091 hitter and this was his third career two-hit game.

“I think both of them were just first-pitch fastballs down and away,” loser Brad Hand said. “He put good swings on them.”

Mark Reynolds’ three-run home run on a 3-0 pitch in the sixth put the first-place Cardinals ahead by four and Randal Grichuk hit his 15th homer in the first. Rookie Stephen Piscotty had three hits and scored twice, helping the Cardinals win their eighth out of 10.

Lackey (10-7) allowed two runs on nine hits in 8 1/3 innings to reach double figures in victories for the 12th time in 13 seasons — the exception being 2012, which was lost to injury. He has been especially good at home, going 8-3 with a 1.91 ERA.

Hand (2-3) allowed six runs on 11 hits in six innings, keeping it close until the sixth.

“I wasn’t trying to lay one in for him just to get a strike, but to make a quality pitch down” Hand said of the Reynolds at-bat. “It just got a little bit too much of the plate.”

Lackey balked home a run in the second but got it back in the bottom half with a two-out broken-bat single for his second RBI of the season. He then added a single in the fourth.

Justin Bour ended a 30-game homer drought for the Marlins, who are 0-5 against St. Louis this season and will try to avoid a three-game sweep on Sunday.

The Cardinals are now a season-high 34 games above .500 and improved their home record to 44-17.

Hand worked seven innings of two-hit ball at Atlanta in his last start and had allowed one run in 11 innings his first two starts since rejoining the rotation.

MILESTONE HIT

Ichiro Suzuki singled in the first for his 4,192nd career hit in the major leagues and Japan, unofficially passing Ty Cobb’s total that ranks second in history. The 41-year-old Suzuki also singled in the third and has 2,915 major league hits and 1,278 hits in nine seasons for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan.

Suzuki got a standing ovation from a sellout crowd and responded by doffing his helmet and bowing.

“That’s such a great thing to see and be a part of,” Marlins manager Dan Jennings said. “He certainly deserved that moment.”

If Suzuki’s hit total is downgraded by some, there’s nothing he can do about it.

“I think that’s for people to decide and for people to talk about and decide for themselves,” Suzuki said through an interpreter. “There’s really nothing I can do.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: Christian Yelich (knee bruise) was placed on the 15-day DL. Marcell Ozuna was recalled from Triple-A New Orleans and batted fifth, singling his first trip.

UP NEXT

David Phelps (4-8, 4.35) is 3 1/3 innings shy of his career high of 113 with the Yankees last year and starts on 10 days’ rest. The Cardinals are 18-3 when Carlos Martinez (12-4) gets the nod.

CROWDED HALL

The Cardinals inducted Bob Forsch, Curt Flood, George Kissell and Ted Simmons into the team’s Hall of Fame in a ceremony earlier in the day. All but Simmons, now a scout for the Marlins, were inducted posthumously. “They do it up right and it’s real,” Simmons said. “They want fans and the inductees to know that this is a big deal and when those inductees go in, put that jacket on, you realize what’s happening. This is not small potatoes.”

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jaime Garcia pitched shutout ball into the ninth inning and Matt Carpenter homered, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Miami Marlins 3-1 Friday night.

Garcia (5-4) came within two outs of throwing the first complete game of the season for the NL Central leaders. He gave up six singles, walked one and struck out six.

Trevor Rosenthal got his 36th save in 38 chances.

Carpenter’s bunt single broke a scoreless tie in the fifth. He hit a solo home run in the eighth.

Tom Koehler (8-10) took the loss and Miami’s three-game winning streak ended.

Ichiro Suzuki singled in the Miami fifth for his 2,913th hit in the major leagues. Combined with 1,278 hits in Japan, he equaled Ty Cobb’s total of 4,191. Cobb held the big league mark that Pete Rose eventually passed on his way to a record 4,256 hits.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pedro Alvarez homered in a seven-run first inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates broke an eight-game losing streak at Busch Stadium, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 10-5 Thursday night.

The Pirates moved within six games of the first-place Cardinals in the NL Central with their 12th victory in the last 18 games.

St. Louis, which won the first two games in the series, has won the last seven sets between the teams at Busch Stadium.

Alvarez and Neil Walker each three hits as the Pirates held on. The Cardinals closed their seven-run deficit to 7-5 in the seventh.

Francisco Liriano (8-6) pitched six innings and gave up three runs and six hits.

Lance Lynn (9-7) got just two outs in the shortest of his 119 career starts. He gave up six runs, and four of the runs were unearned after a throwing error by third baseman Matt Carpenter.

Walker started the outburst with a triple and Andrew McCutchen doubled. Jung Ho Kang reached on the error and Alvarez followed with his 17th home run of the season, a two-run drive to center.

Liriano and Gregory Polanco added RBI singles that finished Lynn, and Walker capped it by singling home a run.

The Cardinals got a two-run single from Yadier Molina in the bottom half.

Jhonny Peralta cut the deficit to 7-4 with a run-scoring hit in the seventh off reliever Joakim Soria. Molina’s sacrifice fly brought the Cardinals to within 7-5.

Walker hit an RBI double during a three-run ninth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: OF Starling Marte did not start and is listed as day-to-day with a left hand contusion. He entered the game as a pinch-runner in the ninth and played the field in the bottom of the inning. Marte injured the hand on a swing in Tuesday’s 4-3 loss. He started Wednesday’s game but was taken out in the third inning.

UP NEXT

Pirates: LHP J.A. Happ (0-1, 8.31) will take on RHP Bartolo Colon (10-11, 4.76) in the first of a three-game series against the Mets in New York on Friday. Happ is making his second start of the season for the Pirates after being acquired from Seattle on July 31.

Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia (4-4, 1.77) kicks off a three-game home series against Miami on Friday. He will be opposed by RHP Tom Koehler (8-9. 3.75). Garcia tossed seven shutout innings in a 3-0 win on Saturday at Milwaukee.

— Associated Press —