Pinch-hitter Dioner Navarro hit a run-scoring double in the eighth inning to cap a three-run rally and the Chicago Cubs beat the Cardinals 6-5 Saturday night to win a series in St. Louis for the first time in nearly three years.

Matt Holliday homered for twice St. Louis, which lost its fourth in a row. Chicago won for the third time in four games.

The Cubs trailed 4-2 entering the eighth, but tied it 4-4 on Darwin Barney’s two-out, two-run double by off reliever Trevor Rosenthal (1-3). Navarro followed with his fifth pinch-hit RBI of the season to give Chicago a 5-4 lead.

Blake Parker (1-1) picked up the victory for the Cubs, who last won a series in St. Louis on Sept. 13-15, 2010.

Welington Castillo homered in the second to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.

Castillo and Nate Schierholtz drew leadoff walks to start the eighth. Rosenthal struck out the next two batters before Barney hit his 20th double of the season.

Kevin Gregg picked up his 25th save in 29 opportunities despite giving up Holliday’s 15th homer of the season, a solo shot with one out in the ninth. Gregg retired the final two batters on ground outs.

Schierholtz added a run-scoring single in the ninth.

Castillo also had a sacrifice fly in the fifth that trimmed the deficit to 3-2.

Holliday hit a three-run homer in the fourth off Chicago starter Carlos Villanueva to give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.

St. Louis rookie right-hander Michael Wacha, making his fourth major league start, surrendered two runs on five hits in a 99-pitch stint. He was recalled from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day for the spot start.

Matt Carpenter and Carlos Beltran led off the fourth with singles to set the stage for Holliday’s line-drive blast over the left-field wall.

The three-run outburst broke a string of 17 straight scoreless innings by St. Louis.

Villanueva gave up four runs on seven hits over six innings. His last win as a starter came on April 18.

The Cardinals stretched the lead to 4-2 on back-to-back doubles by Carpenter and Beltran in the sixth.

— Associated Press —

Anthony Rizzo had a two-run single, Chris Rusin pitched around seven hits in six innings, and the Chicago Cubs recorded their first shutout in St. Louis in 16 years with a 3-0 victory over the Cardinals on Friday night.

Rusin (2-1) twice worked out of bases-loaded jams and only set the Cardinals down in order in the first. He struck out a season-high five and issued two intentional walks.

Kevin Gregg recorded his 24th save to complete the Cubs’ first shutout in St. Louis since Jeremi Gonzalez tossed one on June 23, 1997.

Lance Lynn (13-6), attempting to become the National League’s first 14-game winner, labored over 6 2-3 innings despite giving up just three hits. He threw 115 pitches and was charged with all three runs. He struck out five, walked five and hit two.

Chicago has won two of three, but only has three wins in its past 12.

St. Louis has lost four of five and 12 of 16. The Cardinals have been shut out four times during that span and have scored three or fewer runs 10 times, despite getting 13 runs in two victories and 15 runs in a third.

Lynn’s night ended after he plunked Cole Gillespie to load the bases in the seventh with two outs. Lefty Randy Choate came in to face the left-handed Rizzo, who singled to center on a two-strike pitch to score Darwin Barney and Junior Lake and make it 3-0.

The Cubs opened the scoring on Lake’s two-out single that scored Welington Castillo, who walked to open the seventh.

It could have been more. Starlin Castro was originally called safe by first base umpire Larry Vanover on a bunt that Lynn fielded and applied the tag. After a short argument from Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, the umpire crew gathered and reversed the call for the first out of the inning.

Rusin twice intentionally walked Pete Kozma to load the bases with two outs and face Lynn. Lynn struck out in the second and ended the fourth with a grounder.

Rusin was lifted for pinch-hitter Logan Watkins with runners at first and second with one out in the seventh. Watkins struck out.

Jon Jay had three hits, including two doubles, for the Cardinals. Matt Holliday had two singles.

Both managers tinkered with their lineups to try and boost their struggling teams.

The Cubs used David DeJesus in the cleanup position for the first time in his career. DeJesus struck out to end the seventh with runners at first and third and finished 0 for 3, with a walk and a hit-by-pitch.

The Cardinals moved David Freese to second in the order for the first time this season. He had a single in four at-bats.

— Associated Press —

A.J. Ellis hit a three-run home run and rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched seven stellar innings to help the red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 Thursday night.

The Dodgers have won 17 of their last 18 games on the road, with the only loss coming Tuesday to St. Louis in the second game of the four-game set. Los Angeles returns home for a six-game home stand against Tampa and the New York Mets.

Ryu (11-3) allowed one unearned run on five hits while striking out seven and walking no one. He increased his winning percentage to .786, which is the highest winning percentage for a rookie in Dodgers’ history.

Fellow Los Angeles rookie Yasiel Puig had three hits to raise his batting average to .377. Adrian Gonzalez drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Jerry Hairston had a pinch-hit RBI single.

Los Angeles spoiled the first Major League start for St. Louis rookie Carlos Martinez (0-1), who was called up from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day to make the start. Martinez lasted just 4 2-3 innings before leaving with cramps. He allowed all four runs on seven hits and three walks.

Matt Holliday had two hits and scored the Cardinals’ only run. St. Louis fell four games back of Pittsburgh in the National League Central race.

With the Dodgers leading 1-0, Holliday singled with two outs to keep the fourth inning alive. David Freese followed with a single to center, and when Andre Ethier’s throw into the infield hit the second base bag and got away, Holliday came home to even the score.

Gonzalez walked with one out in the fifth and Puig followed with a single. Puig was erased by Ethier’s fielder’s choice, but Ellis then drove Martinez’s pitch into the Dodgers’ bullpen in left field to make it 4-1.

— Associated Press —

Carlos Beltran and Matt Adams homered in the eighth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 15-game road winning streak with a 5-1 victory on Tuesday night.

Joe Kelly pitched into the sixth inning, outperforming Clayton Kershaw and helping St. Louis to its fourth victory in the last six games. Tony Cruz added an RBI single.

The Dodgers’ road winning streak was a franchise record. Their previous loss away from Chavez Ravine was a 4-2 decision at San Francisco on July 6.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a one-out RBI single off Kelly (3-3) in the sixth, but that was it for Los Angeles against the right-hander. He left with runners on first and second and the Cardinals nursing a 2-1 lead.

Andre Ethier singled against Randy Choate, loading the bases, but Seth Maness got A.J. Ellis to bounce into an inning-ending double play.

The Cardinals then grabbed control in the eighth. Beltran hit his team-high 20th homer off Brandon League for a 3-1 lead. Matt Holliday then walked before Adams connected for his third pinch-hit drive of the season.

Kershaw (10-7) allowed two runs and six hits in six innings for Los Angeles, which dropped to 15-3 since the All-Star break. The left-hander is 5-2 with a sparkling 1.62 ERA over his last eight starts.

Cruz helped the Cardinals take the lead in the sixth. He singled in Jon Jay, then moved to third on Pete Kozma’s double. He came home on Kelly’s bouncer to second, lifting St. Louis to a 2-0 lead.

Kelly was working on a scoreless streak of 20 innings before Los Angeles scored in the sixth. He allowed six hits while lowering his ERA to 2.98.

St. Louis recorded four double plays in the first six innings to help Kelly, who is 3-0 in five starts since joining the rotation on July 6. The Cardinals used six pitchers.

The Dodgers came up two wins short of tying the major league single-season mark of 17 straight road wins for the Detroit Tigers from April 3-May 24, 1984, and New York Giants from May 9-29, 1916. The two-season mark is 21 in a row by Detroit from Sept. 18, 1983 to May 24, 1984.

— Associated Press —

Zack Greinke made himself right at home. Just like the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers have been doing for almost a month.

Greinke pitched into the seventh inning and raised his average to .405 with an RBI single, helping the Dodgers win their 15th straight on the road with a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night. This is the sixth city during the streak.

”I think we kind of thrive on an us-against-the-stadium mentality,” catcher A.J. Ellis said. ”It really brings out the best in ourselves.”

Nick Punto was productive subbing for injured shortstop Hanley Ramirez and the Dodgers got an RBI apiece from Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis while matching the Cincinnati Reds’ 15-game run in 1957. They’re two wins shy of the NL record set by the 1916 New York Giants.

”They’re playing great ball obviously,” losing pitcher Adam Wainwright said. ”I knew that going in, I wanted to end that streak.”

Greinke (9-3) allowed two runs in 6 1-3 innings for his 100th career victory, allowing two hits in the third, fourth and fifth but no runs. Paco Rodriguez earned his second career save with a perfect ninth.

Wainwright (13-7) gave up three runs in seven innings and failed in his third straight attempt at winning his 14th, working seven innings in all three of those starts. He remained tied for the league lead in wins with teammate Lance Lynn and regretted a fat pitch on Punto’s double a lot more than Greinke’s hit off a nasty curveball.

Carlos Beltran and Allen Craig had an RBI apiece for the Cardinals, stifled in the opener of a 10-game homestand after totaling 44 runs the previous four games. They’ve lost nine of 12 overall.

”We score 15 runs and he throws three runs up there in seven innings, it’s a good outing,” manager Mike Matheny said of Greinke. ”It was just one of those days we couldn’t get much going.”

Matheny wasn’t happy about Beltran’s first sacrifice bunt of the season after the first two batters reached in the seventh.

”Sometimes we put them on, sometimes we do it on our own,” Matheny said.

Punto doubled with two outs in the seventh ahead of Greinke’s single that gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. His relay to the plate preserved a one-run lead in the fifth and denied David Freese of an RBI double, and he made nice defensive plays to end the seventh and eighth.

He’s 6 for 13(.462) against the Cardinals.

Matt Carpenter doubled off the right-field wall in the first inning and took third when Yasiel Puig fumbled the ball, then sprinted home on Beltran’s groundout when Punto sailed a throw over catcher A.J. Ellis’ head.

Running shoe-top catches by Puig in right field and Ethier in center helped Greinke strand three Cardinals in a scoreless third. St. Louis came up empty again in the fourth after opening with singles by Jon Jay and Tony Cruz, and Punto’s relay in the fifth caught Allen Craig at the plate on Freese’s double to right.

”It was just a perfect relay and (Ellis) did a good job tagging,” Greinke said. ”I thought it was a good decision to send him and everything had to be right, and it was.”

The first three Dodgers reached in the fourth, with Adrian Gonzalez stopping at third on Puig’s double off the right-field wall and then scoring on Ethier’s broken-bat single. Puig scored the go-ahead run when Ellis beat the relay on a potential double-play ball.

Wainwright had retired eight in a row before Punto doubled to the opposite-field in left with two outs in the seventh and Greinke lofted a single that made it 3-1.

— Associated Press —

Even when things go horribly wrong on the road, the St. Louis Cardinals can always count on one soothing stop. No matter how deep their slump, it’ll end in Cincinnati.

Matt Carpenter broke his 0-for-23 slump with a bases-loaded double during the decisive rally, and the Cardinals ended a tough trip on the upswing by beating the Reds 15-2 on Sunday.

The Cardinals went 3-8 on a trip that included seven straight losses – four of them in Pittsburgh, allowing the Pirates to overtake them for the NL Central lead. On their final stop, an offense that couldn’t do much of anything found a little bit of everything.

”Offensively, we did a terrific job,” manager Mike Matheny said. ”We had a little bit of everything – some power, some good situational hitting, made the (defensive) plays.”

It’s been like that against the Reds lately.

St. Louis took two of three at Great American Ball Park and has won its last six series against Cincinnati, its best such stretch against the Reds since 2003-04. The Cardinals lead the season series 8-4.

”Some teams you play better than others, but they’ve got our number for sure,” said Reds starter Mike Leake (10-5), who gave up a season-high seven runs. ”They play us tough. It’s on us to try to figure them out because they’ve got us figured out for the most part.”

The Cardinals scored their most runs against Cincinnati since 1993. They’ve scored at least 10 runs against the Reds in four games this season, the first time they’ve done that since 1980.

Carpenter’s two-run double off the wall completed a five-run rally in the sixth against Leake and two relievers, setting up another blowout.

”It’s a great feeling,” Carpenter said. ”It’s even better that we come back and win the series in a convincing fashion. It was fun to join in on the action.”

Matt Adams, David Freese and Tony Cruz homered for the Cardinals, who have scored 13, 13, 3 and 15 runs in their last four games.

St. Louis finished with 19 hits and a season high in runs. Every starter except Lance Lynn drove in at least one run.

Lynn (13-5) allowed four hits in eight innings, including Zack Cozart’s two-run homer. Lynn struck out a season-high 11 and joined Adam Wainwright as 13-game winners in a rotation that has the NL’s third-best ERA.

”I had pretty good command of all four pitches, and I was able to use all of them on both sides of the plate,” Lynn said. ”That makes it a lot easier to pitch. Between my last three starts, I’ve had the best stuff I’ve had all year. ”

The Reds have dropped seven of nine, leaving the defending NL Central champions marooned in third place.

The Cardinals scored in the first inning of all three games of the series. They scored four off Bronson Arroyo on Friday night, one on Saturday and four more on Sunday off Leake, who had allowed a total of four runs in his last three starts combined.

Matt Holliday and Freese had RBI doubles, and Adams hit a two-run homer – his first since July 6 – for the 4-0 lead only 19 pitches into the game. Holliday improved to 9 for 20 career off Leake.

The Cardinals sent 10 batters to the plate for five runs in the sixth, aided by a pair of errors. They opened the inning with five consecutive hits, and Carpenter’s two-run double off Logan Ondrusek made it 9-2 and gave the second baseman relief from his personal slump.

”At that point, I was so relieved to just put the barrel of the bat on the ball that I didn’t care what happened,” Carpenter said.

The Cardinals hit only nine homers in July, including one after the All-Star break. They had six in three days at Great American Ball Park.

Reds third baseman Todd Frazier went without a hit for his ninth straight game, leaving him in an 0-for-28 slump. It’s the longest by a Reds player since Drew Stubbs went 0 for 32 midway through last season.

— Associated Press —

Heading into the second game of their series against the St. Louis Cardinals, manager Dusty Baker knew his struggling Reds couldn’t wait much longer to break out of their week-long funk.

”We need to beat these Cardinals,” Baker said. ”We can’t have them thinking they can just throw their gloves out there and beat us.”

This time, the Reds applied the beating.

Devin Mesoraco drove in three runs with a pair of homers, and the Reds finally broke out against a St. Louis team that has held them down all season, beating the Cardinals 8-3 on Saturday night to even their series.

The Reds won for only the fourth time in 11 games between the NL Central rivals. Cincinnati had scored fewer than four runs in each of their last nine games head-to-head.

”It’s pretty big,” left-hander Tony Cingrani said. ”We’ve been on a pretty rough stretch.”

And not just against St. Louis. The defending NL Central champions are mired in third place because their offense has gone missing, scoring four or fewer runs in each of the last seven games. Jack Hannahan singled home a pair of runs in the first inning, and the Reds were back in the swing.

”That calms everybody down,” Mesoraco said. ”Now you’re coming back, you feel good and confident.”

Cingrani (5-1) and four relievers contained an offense that had scored 26 runs in the last two games, allowing four hits.

Jake Westbrook (7-6) gave up five runs – all with two outs – in five innings. Hannahan singled with the bases loaded in the first inning. Mesoraco’s homer in the fourth made it 4-1.

The catcher hit a solo shot in the eighth off Michael Blazek for the first multihomer game of his career. Shin-Soo Choo followed with a two-run homer off Blazek.

The Cardinals ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the Pirates 13-0 on Thursday, then came to Cincinnati and drubbed the Reds 13-3 on Friday night. It was the first time since 2003 that they scored 13 runs in back-to-back games.

They got off to a fast start against Cingrani, making his first career appearance against the Cardinals. Jon Jay opened the game with a walk and came around on Carlos Beltran’s double. Cingrani bounced his next pitch, letting Beltran move to third, but that’s all the Cardinals would manage as the left-hander escaped the 30-pitch inning down only 1-0.

Cingrani left after the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. Grounders by Rob Johnson and pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter drove in runs that cut it to 5-3.

Westbrook threw a five-hitter for a 10-0 win over Cincinnati on April 10. He lost his shutout right away this time. Westbrook gave up a hit and a pair of walks in the first, including an intentional walk to Jay Bruce that brought up Hannahan with the bases loaded and two outs. Hannahan, who was 0 for 4 career against Westbrook, lined a 2-2 pitch to center for a 2-1 lead.

”The hit of the game was the two-out hit by Jack Hannahan,” Baker said. ”It was nice to see some of the guys swinging that way tonight. It looked pretty good tonight.”

It was the second game in a row that Westbrook had trouble in the opening inning. He gave up four runs in the first inning of a 9-2 loss in Pittsburgh on Monday.

”I couldn’t finish off innings,” Westbrook said. ”I’d get a couple of quick outs and I couldn’t put them away. That was a subpar performance for me. I felt like I pitched better today than in my last start. I was making decent pitches.”

Mesoraco’s homer was only the fifth that Westbrook has allowed in his 16 starts this season.

Westbrook walked five batters in five innings, and three of them scored. Joey Votto got the second of his three walks with two outs in the fifth and came around on Brandon Phillips’ double.

— Associated Press —

With their hitting slump a thing of the past, the Cardinals can relax and focus on getting back into first place.

It’s only a half-game away.

David Freese set the tone with a bases-loaded double in the first inning, and Daniel Descalso hit two of the Cardinals’ three homers on Friday night as St. Louis pulled away to a 13-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Cardinals have emerged from a deep hitting slump by scoring 13 runs in each of their last two games. It’s the first time this season they’ve had double-digit run totals in consecutive games.

”Our guys put so much pressure on themselves,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. ”They’re perfectionists. It was frustrating for a quite a few days. It was good to see some energy. I hope we can keep riding it.”

While the Cardinals have emerged from their hitting slump, the Reds are still stuck in theirs.

Shelby Miller (11-7) limited Cincinnati to two singles over the first five innings before Joey Votto hit a three-run homer in the sixth. The Reds managed only six hits, five of them singles. They’ve been held to three or fewer runs in six of their last seven games.

”I felt really good,” Miller said. ”That was some of the best stuff I had all year. I kind of let it get away from me in the sixth inning. I guess I kind of lost my focus, which is something that shouldn’t let happen.”

In every respect, it was a night the Reds wanted to forget.

”This is a game that depends upon how short a memory you have,” outfielder Jay Bruce said.

Bronson Arroyo (9-9) matched his season high by giving up seven runs in only 3 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.

Freese also had a bases-loaded walk, giving him four RBIs. Allen Craig and Carlos Beltran each had three hits as St. Louis piled up 14 in all.

The 13 runs were the most allowed by Cincinnati this season.

”These guys were cold coming in here and all of a sudden – Boom! – everybody looks hot,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said.

The Cardinals improved to 7-3 against the Reds this season, keeping the defending NL Central champions at arm’s length. They moved to a half-game behind first-place Pittsburgh. Cincinnati stayed 5 1/2 games back.

Both teams were coming off tough weeks set up by a lack of offense.

The Cardinals lost four of five in Pittsburgh and seven straight overall, allowing the Pirates to take over the top spot. St. Louis managed a total of only 10 runs during the seven-game losing streak, which ended with a 13-0 victory in Pittsburgh on Thursday.

The Reds had trouble scoring runs on the West Coast while dropping five of their last six games there.

Which one would break out first in the weekend series?

The Cardinals. Emphatically.

They quickly got to Arroyo, who had trouble getting his pitches to go where he wanted. The Cardinals loaded the bases on a pair of hits and a walk with one out in the first, and Freese doubled off the wall in center for a 3-0 lead. Jon Jay followed with an RBI single on Arroyo’s 24th pitch.

Just what the Cardinals needed to relax a little.

”That was big,” Matheny said. ”It’s what got us going there. I’ve always been a big believer in the team that scores early has a better chance to win the game.”

It never got much better for Arroyo, who has faced the Cardinals more than any other opponent in his career and had far more bad times than good. He fell to 8-16 in 37 career starts against St. Louis.

Curtis Partch relieved Arroyo in the fourth and walked the first three batters he faced, including Matt Holliday and Freese with the bases loaded. Jay’s double made it 9-0.

Descalso hit a pair of solo shots for the first multihomer game of his career, and Craig had a two-run shot as St. Louis pulled away. The Cardinals hit only nine homers in July, including one after the All-Star break.

— Associated Press —

Joe Kelly and the St. Louis Cardinals averted a five-game sweep at Pittsburgh, ending a season-worst seven-game losing streak by routing the Pirates 13-0 Thursday night in a matchup between the NL’s top two teams.

St. Louis began the series with a 2 1/2-game lead in the NL Central but left with the Pirates ahead by 1 1/2 games. The Cardinals avoided their first sweep in a set of at least five games since 1916, when the New York Giants took all six games.

Pittsburgh had won the previous four games at PNC Park by a combined score of 36-10.

Kelly (2-3) pitched six scoreless innings and had two hits. Tony Cruz added three hits, including a two-run double during an eight-run seventh inning.

Kelly allowed three hits while walking four and striking out four. Seth Maness, Michael Blazek and Edward Mujica pitched one inning each to complete the five-hitter.

After the Cardinals failed to acquire a replacement for injured All-Star catcher Yadier Molina prior to Wednesday’s non-waiver trading deadline, Cruz figures to get the majority of starts behind the plate. He had started just 11 games this season until Molina went on the disabled list Wednesday with a sprained right knee.

Carlos Beltran, Allen Craig, Matt Holliday and David Freese also had two of St. Louis’ 17 hits. Craig came into the game in a 1-for-27 slump, and he had a two-run double in the seventh.

Charlie Morton (3-3) struggled against the Cardinals again, giving up five runs and 10 hits in six innings. He is 2-8 in his career against St. Louis.

Morton threw a wild pitch that made it 1-0 in the second. St. Louis scored three times in the third as Jon Jay was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Cruz grounded into a double play and Pete Kozma had an RBI single.

Beltran doubled in a run in the sixth before the Cardinals broke the game open an inning later.

— Associated Press —

Russell Martin drove home Neal Walker with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Wednesday night.

Martin’s sharp grounder off Trevor Rosenthal (1-2) rolled into left field, giving Walker enough time to score from second. The Pirates’ fourth straight win over the Cardinals gave Pittsburgh a 2 1/2-game lead in the NL Central.

St. Louis left 11 runners on base and dropped its seventh consecutive game. The Cardinals led 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 but couldn’t hold on.

Tony Watson (3-1) worked two shutout innings in relief. Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save.

Matt Holliday had three hits and drove in two runs, and the Cardinals’ struggling offense put together 13 hits.

Walker hit his seventh homer of the season off Adam Wainwright in the first inning, starting a pattern that repeated itself throughout the night. The Cardinals found ways to score off starter Jeff Locke, but Pittsburgh kept chipping away.

Martin’s second hit of the night gave Pittsburgh its 25th comeback win of the season.

The teams with the two best records in the National League were mostly spectators before Wednesday’s non-waiver trade deadline, though the Pirates acquired minor leaguer Robert Andino from Seattle.

Pittsburgh general manager Neal Huntington stressed he aggressively sought help for one of the National League’s weaker offenses but didn’t want to do it while gutting a replenished farm system.

”We talk a lot about, we don’t want to do something stupid,” Huntington said before the game. ”We were willing to do something stupid, we just didn’t want to do anything insane.”

Instead the Pirates, like the Cardinals, opted to do nothing major. The difference is the Cardinals have a roster dotted with players sporting World Series rings. Not Pittsburgh, which is in pursuit of its first playoff appearance in more than two decades.

While Huntington will continue to search for help, he isn’t sure his team needs that much, even on a night Locke didn’t have his best stuff.

Locke’s rapid ascension from fifth starter to All-Star has fueled Pittsburgh’s relentless pursuit of the Cardinals, but St. Louis spent four innings pecking away at the left-hander’s usually deft mix of breaking balls.

The Cardinals came in hitting just .155 (30-194) during their late-July swoon but peppered Locke for 10 hits, the most he has given up in 31 career starts.

They came in various shapes and sizes, from a hard-hit double by Beltran in the fourth to a swinging bunt by David Descalso that traveled 20 feet. Locke tied a season high by giving up four runs. He struck out six and walked one as his ERA rose from 2.15 to 2.36.

Wainwright, however, couldn’t take advantage of the first signs of life by the St. Louis offense in a week. Every time the Cardinals would push in front, the Pirates would chip away, eventually tying it on a sacrifice fly by Andrew McCutchen in the fifth. It marked the third straight day the Pirates produced a run on a sac fly after failing to do so for nearly two months.

Wainwright allowed four runs on eight hits, striking out six and walking one in seven innings.

— Associated Press —