Russell Martin wanted a better fate for his starting pitcher and helped deliver a happier ending.

The Pittsburgh Pirates catcher hit a two-run home run to highlight a four-run seventh inning and the Pirates rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 on Saturday. The comeback gave A.J. Burnett (2-2) his second victory over St. Louis in 10 days.

”It was great, man. I was really happy about that,” said Martin, who went 2-for-4 with a double. ”A.J.’s been pitching his butt off all year and he hasn’t had too many wins under his belt and he should. It seemed like it was going to go like kind of how it’s been but we were able to muster up some wins and find a way to do it for him.

”It’s definitely gratifying. It feels great.”

Burnett gave up two runs and five hits in six innings. His six strikeouts expanded his team record for the month of April to a league-leading 48. Burnett threw seven shutout innings in a 5-0 win over St. Louis on April 17.

He hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in his six starts this season, giving up three just twice. The Pirates haven’t backed him at the plate, however, providing him an average of 2.33 runs.

Burnett used 111 pitches earning an exit earlier than he wanted but he was pleased with his results and the victory.

”It feels good just because the fact that these guys keep going,” he said. ”Russ started us off with the homer. We’re never out of it. We’re never down. There’s no negative thoughts.

”As a starter, I’m going to try to keep doing that until (manager) Clint (Hurdle) takes me out.”

St. Louis starter Jake Westbrook left after six innings with a 2-0 lead in search of his 100th career victory. He struck out a season-high six and scattered six hits to lower his ERA to 0.98 in five starts.

The Pirates had three consecutive hits against reliever Joe Kelly (0-1) to lead off the seventh and were aided by a hit by pitch and a walk to score four runs. Martin’s fifth homer of the season drove in Pedro Alvarez to tie the score at 2, Andrew McCutchen walked with the bases loaded and Garrett Jones grounded in Starling Marte.

”They just couldn’t get it done today,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of his bullpen. ”Any time you lose a game in the last third, it can be extremely frustrating. When the starter gives you a great chance like that, you hate to see it slip away.”

The Pirates added their fifth run on a double by Martin and a sacrifice fly from Gaby Sanchez. Martin has a hit in 10 of his past 11 games.

Pittsburgh had scored just one run in the first 15 innings of the series before their four-run outburst. The beleaguered St. Louis Cardinals bullpen had its ERA balloon to 5.62. The Cardinals have given up 39 runs after the sixth inning this season.

”Honestly, I didn’t know they were struggling like that,” Martin said. ”All of those guys have tremendous arms and they’ve got good stuff. It’s going to even out for them, I’m sure.

”The difference is, when they’re struggling, it’s just their minds that are struggling. Maybe their focus is just a bit off. When you get a guy whose focus is off he tends to make more mistakes and that’s when you have to capitalize.”

Jason Grilli surrendered his first run of the season on an RBI double from Carlos Beltran in the ninth but earned his 10th save in 10 tries.

St. Louis jumped to a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and sixth. Pete Kozma’s two-out single up the middle scored Jon Jay. Matt Carpenter and Beltran singled to start the first. Carpenter scored on Matt Holliday’s groundout.

Westbrook’s performance also lowered the Cardinals starters ERA to a league-best 2.08.

He allowed a runner to reach second base once, though the Pirates went in order just one time.

Westbrook has struggled throughout his career against the Pirates, entering with a 1-7 record and a 5.28 ERA. It could have been worse. He gave up four runs and six hits in two innings April 16 before rained forced the game’s postponement.

”I felt like I was throwing the ball pretty well, had a good sinker. I was able to get some early outs and stayed out of trouble for the most part.”

— Associated Press —

Lance Lynn pitched seven innings of one-run ball to extend his winning streak to nine games and Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate and drove in three runs to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-1 win over Pittsburgh on Friday night in a game that saw two Pirates and their manager ejected.

Matt Carpenter and Beltran started the game with home runs for the Cardinals, who have won four straight and five of six.

Pirates starter Jonathan Sanchez (0-3) lasted just two more batters. He and manager Clint Hurdle were ejected after Sanchez hit Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig with a pitch.

Pirates hitting coach Jay Bell was ejected in the fifth inning for arguing after Starling Marte was hit by Lynn for the second straight time.

— Associated Press —

The St. Louis Cardinals’ very first batter, Matt Carpenter, got it started against Stephen Strasburg by stretching a single into a double when Bryce Harper’s throw to second base was bobbled and fell to the dirt.

One out later, Matt Holliday singled. Carlos Beltran walked. Yadier Molina delivered a two-run single. And then a throwing error on Daniel Descalso’s grounder padded the score.

Just like that, 23 pitches in, the Cardinals built a three-run lead against Strasburg’s Washington Nationals. And that, pretty much, was enough. On the strength of that half-inning, the Cardinals beat the Nationals 4-2 Wednesday to complete a sweep and give Washington’s All-Star ace the only four-start losing streak of his young career.

”It was good to get on Strasburg early,” Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma said. ”That’s what we were trying to do from the get-go.”

Jaime Garcia (2-1) allowed a run on Harper’s sixth-inning groundout, but otherwise added to the offensive struggles of the Nationals, who have lost six consecutive home games and nine of their last 12 overall to fall to 10-11.

With his team averaging 2.9 runs over its past dozen games, Washington manager Davey Johnson said he would insert bench player Steve Lombardozzi in the lineup Thursday against Cincinnati and make other changes to the batting order.

”We’re just not doing the things we’re capable of doing right now,” Johnson said. ”It’ll change, but I’m going to have to jumble things up a little bit. Try to light a fire.”

The Nationals produced only four runs in this three-game set, a rematch of the 2012 NL division series won by St. Louis.

”We feel pretty comfortable against them,” Kozma said.

Needing to be nearly perfect given Washington’s lack of offense, Strasburg (1-4) improved considerably after that 12-minute first inning. Getting ahead in the count, he threw 110 pitches over seven innings, giving up no other runs and a total of five hits, along with seven strikeouts.

”I was trying to throw the perfect pitch. I tell myself going into the game, ‘Don’t do that.’ And I go out there and I do it,” said Strasburg, who hasn’t won since opening day against Miami. ”So I was really happy I was able to make the adjustment, get the feeling back. My velocity came back up, I was throwing a lot more strikes, and they weren’t taking as good swings.”

That initial inning, though, was precisely the sort of ”scratch and claw” offense that Cardinals manager Mike Matheny spoke about before the game.

”People hate our ‘small ball’ theory,” Matheny said, ”but when we’re not banging balls into the stands every single night, we’ve got to do other things, whether people like it or not.”

His club used that style to add an insurance run in the eighth off Drew Storen – who blew a ninth-inning lead against St. Louis in Game 5 in October – on Holliday’s chopped single that didn’t leave the infield.

”The thing that the Cardinals did is, they’ve got their boppers in the middle, but then they’ve got guys like Descalso and (Shane) Robinson and Kozma,” Strasburg said. ”They grind you out. They’re not going to give in. They’re not just going to strike out.”

The Nationals, meanwhile, went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Trying to generate something for Washington’s slumbering offense, Ian Desmond bunted for a base hit with one out in the second, then stole second and advanced to third on a flyout to the warning track. But rookie third baseman Anthony Rendon struck out to end the inning.

Strasburg actually was the one who got Washington going at the plate, grounding a single up the middle to lead off the sixth. Denard Span followed with a single, and Jayson Werth’s groundout moved the runners up for Harper. He grounded out to second, but at least that got Strasburg home to make it 3-1.

A walk to Tyler Moore ended Garcia’s day after one run and four hits in 5 2-3 innings. Righty Joe Kelly entered to face Desmond, who struck out swinging, then flung his bat and helmet.

In the seventh, a pair of singles put runners at the corners with one out, but Kelly got out of that jam when pinch-hitter Lombardozzi struck out and Jhonatan Solano, taking off from first on a hit-and-run, was thrown out at second by catcher Molina.

Werth’s fourth homer, off Trevor Rosenthal in the eighth, gave Washington its second run. But that was too little to stop the Nationals from dropping below .500 for the first time since finishing the 2011 season 80-81.

”Somebody said last night it feels like we’re 0-20. But it’s not that bad. We’re only one game under .500, and it’s April. We’ll be all right,” Werth said. ”What we’re going through: It’s the first time this team has dealt with expectations, and there’s something to be said about that. But we’ll adjust.”

— Associated Press —

Adam Wainwright extended his sterling start to the season – and Washington’s mediocre one – by coming within two outs of his second shutout, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the Nationals 2-0 Tuesday night.

The right-hander (4-1) lowered his ERA to 1.93 by going 8 1-3 scoreless innings, allowing only five hits.

Edward Mujica got the final two outs for his third save.

Allen Craig and Carlos Beltran drove in runs in the fourth off Nationals lefty Ross Detwiler (1-1), who gave up eight hits across six innings.

The Nationals, who led the majors with 98 wins last season and were a popular pick to do well in 2013, lost for the eighth time in their past 11 games to fall to 10-10.

How in command has Wainwright been? His walk to Bryce Harper with two outs in the sixth was the pitcher’s first free pass of the season, and it came in his fifth start, after 34 2-3 innings. That loaded the bases for Washington, but no matter: Wainwright struck out Adam LaRoche swinging with a high, 94 mph fastball. Catcher Yadier Molina pumped his fist.

In all, Wainwright struck out nine batters – LaRoche, four times, including in the ninth after Harper’s leadoff double – and had that lone walk.

For the Cardinals, this represents their first two-game ”winning streak” in a while: They had alternated wins and losses over the previous nine games.

Washington, meanwhile, dropped its fifth consecutive home game, and there even were scattered chants of ”Let’s go, Cardinals!” among the announced crowd of 29,986.

Before the game, Nationals manager Davey Johnson spoke about some of his hitters and pitchers ”trying to do too much,” perhaps as a result of the expectations the club faced entering the season, something unprecedented for the franchise since it moved from Montreal in 2005.

”Maybe from everybody picking us as a candidate to win our division,” Johnson said, ”everybody’s trying to be a little better than they need to be, instead of just relaxing, going out there and doing what you’re capable of doing.”

Of course, it was Johnson who came up with the phrase ”World Series or bust” to describe what the Nationals have said will be his final season as their manager.

”They win ballgames; I lose ’em. I ain’t doing too good here, lately. There’s nothing really you can say about it,” Johnson added. ”Just keep a positive attitude.”

Detwiler weaved his way in and out of the first three innings, each of which ended with a groundball double play, including a nifty one started by second baseman Danny Espinosa with a backhanded flip from his glove to shortstop Ian Desmond.

A fourth – and unusual – double play came in the fifth inning, when Wainwright’s sacrifice bunt with a man on first was fielded by third baseman Anthony Rendon, who threw to Espinosa covering first base for one out. The runner, Pete Kozma, kept going, and Espinosa threw to Detwiler covering third to get him out, too.

In the only early inning without a double play, the fourth, the Cardinals got to Detwiler with four consecutive opposite-field hits by right-handed batters, including the run-scoring double by Craig and single by Beltran.

Wainwright, in contrast, had a much easier time.

He needed all of four pitches to record three outs in the fifth inning, for example, as Desmond, Anthony Rendon and Espinosa all grounded out. That gave Wainwright 13 consecutive outs.

And he took only five pitches to get through the seventh against that same trio.

— Associated Press —

The setting and the situation were so similar, Pete Kozma couldn’t help but recall what happened six months ago.

”I can think of one game,” he said, more mischief in his words than in his deadpan facial expression.

With two runners on, No. 8 hitter Kozma came to bat for St. Louis in a tight game against the Washington Nationals, the Cardinals’ pitcher on deck. When that happened the last time these teams played a game that counted, it was Oct. 12, in Game 5 of an NL division series, and Washington pitched to Kozma, who delivered a go-ahead, two-run single.

On Monday night, the Nationals chose to intentionally walk Kozma – something some fans surely wished the Nationals had done the other time – and reliever Craig Stammen struck out Shelby Miller to end the inning. Earlier in the sixth, Yadier Molina drove in the tiebreaking run for St. Louis, backing Miller’s strong start, and the Cardinals beat the Nationals 3-2.

”Before the game, I got to thinking about it a little bit here and there,” Kozma said.

He was booed during pregame introductions and again when his name was announced before his first plate appearance, in the third inning. He singled to right in that at-bat, the ball landing not too far from where his go-ahead hit landed in October. This time, it was part of a two-run inning, with Kozma and Matt Carpenter coming home on Allen Craig’s double off the wall for a 2-0 lead.

When Kozma came up for the final time Monday, in the ninth, he was the first batter faced by – guess who? – Drew Storen, who was Washington’s closer on Oct. 12. The Nationals led 6-0 after three innings that day, and were still ahead 7-5 with two outs in the top of the ninth, before Storen gave up a tying hit to Daniel Descalso and Kozma’s hit that made it 9-7 and ended the Nationals’ season.

After striking out Kozma on Monday, Storen got pinch-hitter Descalso to pop out to third base.

”All of that did flash before my mind when it was all coming up,” Nationals manager Davey Johnson said.

Storen, by the way, said October, the Cardinals and Kozma were not in his thoughts at all.

”If it was,” he said, ”I shouldn’t be out there.”

Miller (3-1) struck out eight in 6 2-3 innings, giving up two runs and four hits.

”He’s got a different look than the majority of the guys we have on our staff, and a lot of other guys in the league. He’s keeping people off balance with that,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

”You can’t go out there and try and teach somebody deception, necessarily,” Matheny added. ”The ball just comes out of his hand a little different.”

Edward Mujica pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save, and with Mitchell Boggs having blown two of four save chances, Matheny said he’ll figure out his bullpen roles game by game.

All the Cardinals’ runs came against Dan Haren (1-3), who allowed six hits in five-plus innings.

”I gave us a chance until the fifth,” Haren said. ”Then I got into a mess.”

In a span of three pitches. Haren plunked the inning’s first batter, Matt Holliday, and then served up first-pitch singles to Carlos Beltran and Molina, putting St. Louis ahead 3-2. Haren then walked David Freese, loading the bases with no outs, and was done.

In came righty reliever Craig Stammen, who got Jon Jay to ground into a 3-2-3 double play before the walk to Kozma and strikeout of Miller.

Miller departed after walking Kurt Suzuki to put two on with two outs in the seventh. Joe Kelly came on to face pinch-hitter Chad Tracy, who sent a sinking shot to right-center but Jay raced over to make a nice grab.

The Nationals didn’t score against relievers Trevor Rosenthal or Mujica, either, and now have lost seven of their last 10 games, averaging only 3.3 runs in that span.

”We’re just in a rut,” Washington first baseman Adam LaRoche said. ”Lot of quick innings. Not a ton of baserunners. And five, six guys that aren’t swinging the bat real good. When it rains, it pours.”

— Associated Press —

Erik Kratz hit a three-run home run to break the game open in the eighth inning and lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night.

Mike Adams (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth inning to help the Phillies split the four-game series. The Phillies snapped a 3-3 tie with a four-run eighth that put the game away.

Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an infield single off reliever Mitchell Boggs (0-2). Dom Brown singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Ben Revere made it 4-3 on a go-ahead single up the middle.

Kratz then hit the first pitch deep into the left-field seats for a three-run homer and a 7-3 lead.

— Associated Press —

Lance Lynn threw one-hit ball for seven innings and Carlos Beltran homered for the third straight game to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.

Lynn (3-0) did not allow a hit until John Mayberry Jr., led off the fifth with a double. Lynn struck out eight and walked three in his longest outing of the season.

Trevor Rosenthal and Mitchell Boggs each tossed a scoreless inning to combine for St. Louis’ fourth shutout of the season.

Beltran’s solo shot off Cliff Lee (2-1) in the fifth inning gave him homers in the first three games of the four-game series. Allen Craig had a two-run single in a four-run third for the Cards.

Lee easily had his worst start of the year. After walking one batter all season, he walked the bases loaded in the third that led to St. Louis’ big inning.

— Associated Press —

This was more like the Roy Halladay everyone is used to.

Halladay tossed a two-hitter over seven innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-2 Friday night in a rain-shortened game to snap a four-game losing streak.

Halladay (2-2) allowed two runs, walked two and struck out six to record a complete game. He’s had consecutive strong outings after starting the season with two poor ones. The two-time Cy Young Award winner is coming off an injury-plagued, subpar year, but has looked like his old self this week.

”Today was as close as I’ve felt to where I want to be,” Halladay said. ”When I stay within myself and execute the mechanics the way they should be done, I feel good where I’m at.”

Jimmy Rollins, Ben Revere, Humberto Quintero and John Mayberry Jr. each had two hits for the Phillies, who busted out of their slump with five runs off Jaime Garcia (1-1) in the first inning.

Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday hit solo homers for the Cardinals.

Garcia allowed eight runs – four earned – and nine hits in three innings.

”They put some good swings on the pitches I was making,” Garcia said. ”No excuse. I just didn’t get the job done.”

The game was called after a 35-minute rain delay before the bottom of the seventh.

Chase Utley started Philadelphia’s big first inning with a two-out walk, snapping the Phillies’ unusual streak of four games without drawing one. Michael Young followed with a single. Mayberry ripped an RBI double to left. Then Kevin Frandsen hit a sharp grounder, but third baseman Ty Wigginton made a diving grab. Wigginton, however, made a wild throw to first and the error allowed two runs to score.

”I just pulled it wide left,” Wigginton said. ”I feel like it’s a play I make the majority of time. I don’t know if I rushed. I know I didn’t really get the grip I’d like to have. It’s part of baseball. We were hoping to keep them there. But they started finding the gaps.”

Revere ripped an RBI triple to left-center for his first extra-base hit in his 66th at-bat, and Quintero lined an RBI double to make it 5-0.

Utley had an RBI single in the second, and Quintero drove in a run on a single in the third.

The Phillies helped Halladay with excellent defense. Left fielder Freddy Galvis made a diving, backhanded catch on a sharp liner and Revere made a headfirst sliding catch on a ball to shallow center.

”We did some good playing the first few innings,” manager Charlie Manuel said.

Halladay allowed 12 runs and 12 hits in 7 1-3 innings in his first two starts. But he was solid against a weak Marlins lineup last Sunday, giving up one run and five hits in eight innings.

The Cardinals were a tougher test. Halladay only made two bad pitches, and Beltran and Holliday got hold of both.

”It’s a big difference with a nice lead,” Halladay said. ”You can be aggressive and attack hitters.”

After a rough spring training was followed up by early troubles, many wondered if Halladay was on the decline. He’s thrown a ton of innings and is 35. But Halladay knew it was a matter of time before he got the results he wanted.

”I always felt I was going in the right direction,” he said. ”Once I got a chance to pitch deeper in games, do more bullpens, I felt I was able to take some of that over into the game.”

— Associated Press —

Carlos Beltran hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth, Adam Wainwright pitched seven solid innings and the St. Louis Cardinals escaped a ninth-inning jam for a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night.

Philadelphia put runners at first and third with nobody out against Edward Mujica, but the fill-in closer retired three straight batters to hand the Phillies their fourth consecutive defeat.

Yadier Molina went 3 for 4 with two RBIs for the Cardinals, who had seven hits one night after getting held to Beltran’s seventh-inning double in a 5-0 loss to A.J. Burnett and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Wainwright (3-1) wasn’t as sharp as his previous start, when he pitched a four-hitter and matched a career high with 12 strikeouts Saturday in an 8-0 win over Milwaukee, but he was still effective.

The right-hander gave up three runs and nine hits while striking out four and walking none. He hasn’t walked a batter in 29 innings to start the season.

Beltran broke a 3-all tie with one out in the eighth when he hit an opposite-field homer to left off Mike Adams (0-1).

Mujica wriggled out of trouble in the ninth to convert his first save opportunity. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny chose Mujica over Mitchell Boggs, who has blown two of his four save chances this season. It appeared Mujica would flop, too, but he recovered quickly.

Ben Revere led off the ninth with a single and went to third on Erik Kratz’s single to right. Kratz moved up on pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen’s groundout to shortstop, but Revere held at third. Jimmy Rollins struck out and Freddy Galvis grounded out to end it.

Phillies ace Cole Hamels, who had a 10.97 ERA through two starts, had a second consecutive strong outing but remained winless through four starts. He allowed three runs and five hits while striking out eight and walking two in seven innings.

Ryan Howard went 3 for 4 for the Phillies. Galvis, playing the outfield for the first time in his career, and Chase Utley each had a pair of hits and an RBI for Philadelphia, which had 13 hits.

The Phillies failed to draw a walk for the fourth consecutive game. Philadelphia, which entered 26th in the majors with 34 walks, is averaging 2.1 per game this season.

The Cardinals opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the fourth. Hamels walked Matt Holliday leading off and Allen Craig followed with a line drive to right field that fell in front of John Mayberry Jr., who slipped while pursuing the ball.

Molina drove home both runners with a double down the right-field line. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel came out to argue that the ball was foul.

Philadelphia tied it in the sixth on three straight hard-hit balls off Wainwright. With one out, Rollins lined a double just inside first base and scored on Galvis’ double off the center-field wall that was just out of Jon Jay’s reach. Utley added an RBI single.

Cardinals pitching coach Derek Lilliquist visited Wainwright after Utley’s hit, and the St. Louis righty induced a pair of groundouts to end the inning.

St. Louis regained the lead in the seventh on Pete Kozma’s sacrifice fly after David Freese opened the inning with a double and went to third on Jay’s sacrifice.

In the bottom half, Kratz ended an 0-for-16 slump with an RBI single. Beltran kept the score tied with an excellent catch on Rollins’ drive to right.

Galvis started in left field in place of Domonic Brown, who left Wednesday’s game against the Reds with a back injury. Brown pinch-hit in the seventh and reached on a fielder’s choice.

Manuel, hoping to get his struggling offense going, moved Revere out of the leadoff spot for the first time this season in favor of Rollins, who led off during most of his previous 13 seasons with Philadelphia. Revere, batting seventh, was 1 for 3 while Rollins was 1 for 5.

Matheny also juggled his lineup, dropping Jay out of the leadoff spot for the first time in favor of Matt Carpenter.

— Associated Press —

A.J. Burnett was 24 when he threw his only no-hitter.

Now in his 15th major league season, the 36-year-old Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander knows his career is winding down. He would love to add a second one before retiring.

”Absolutely,” Burnett said. ”My goal every time out is to throw a no-hitter. I know they are major league hitters that I’m facing and I respect them, but my job is not to give up hits. You should go to the mound with that mindset.”

Burnett made a pretty good attempt as the Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 Wednesday night, taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning before Carlos Beltran doubled to right-center with two outs. That was the lone hit given up by Burnett in seven dominant innings.

”I looked at Carlos when he got to second base and said, ‘Couldn’t you have had one more swing-and-miss against me?”’ Burnett said with a smile.

Beltran said he hit a hanging slider.

”He threw me a slider the pitch before and I thought he would come back with it,” Beltran said. ”He left it out over the plate. It was about the only bad pitch he made. He was very good.”

The only other runner Burnett (1-2) allowed came when he hit Daniel Descalso with a 2-2 pitch with one out in the sixth to end his chances for a perfect game. Burnett struck out eight to raise his season total to 35 in 24 innings.

His latest bid for a no-hitter came on a night when he recorded the 2,000th strikeout of his career. Burnett reached the milestone when he caught Beltran looking to lead off the second.

”If anybody doesn’t appreciate what a milestone 2,000 strikeouts is, then they’ve never played the game or they have no respect for the game,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. ”You’re not going to be around long enough to have 2,000 strikeouts unless you have good stuff and also know how to pitch. It’s a great accomplishment.”

The game was stopped briefly when Pirates infielders and catcher Russell Martin went to the mound to shake Burnett’s hand. Burnett also gave a quick wave to the crowd of 9,570, which gave him a standing ovation.

”(Second baseman) Neil Walker had the idea for everyone to come shake my hand and it was really nice,” Burnett said. ”I feel so much love from these guys and I’m glad I could do it at home where these fans have been so great to me these last two years.”

Mark Melancon, Tony Watson and Jason Grilli completed the one-hitter. It was the Pirates’ second shutout of the season and the second time the Cardinals had been blanked.

Burnett’s no-hitter came on May 12, 2001, for the Florida Marlins in San Diego. That game was also notable for his nine walks. Burnett did not issue a free pass Wednesday night.

”That was an ugly no-hitter,” Burnett said. ”I want to throw a pretty one.”

St. Louis rookie Shelby Miller (2-1) pitched well despite taking his first loss in four career decisions. He gave up two runs and six hits in six innings with one walk and six strikeouts.

Andrew McCutchen and Walker each had two of Pittsburgh’s 11 hits.

The Pirates struck quickly against Miller as Starling Marte led off the first inning with a triple high off the right-field wall, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. Travis Snider singled Marte home.

However, after Walker hit a two-out double in the first inning, Miller retired 15 consecutive batters.

McCutchen ended that streak with a two-out infield single in the sixth and scored on a single by Walker to make it 2-0.

”We had a chance to do some damage early but Miller got out of that first inning, then he shut us down,” Hurdle said. ”He was very impressive.”

Pittsburgh scored an unearned run in the seventh off Trevor Rosenthal on third baseman’s David Freese’s two-out throwing error on a grounder by Marte. The Pirates added two more in the eighth against Randy Choate as pinch-hitter Gaby Sanchez doubled in a run and scored on Pedro Alvarez’s single.

”It was a well-pitched game on both sides,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. ”Unfortunately for us, their guy was just a little bit better.”

— Associated Press —