ST. LOUIS (AP) — Gregory Polanco helped the Pittsburgh Pirates serve up a nice slice of victory pie.

Polanco went the opposite way for a three-run homer and John Jaso added a two-run drive, leading Gerrit Cole and the Pirates over the St. Louis Cardinals 10-5 Sunday.

Facing reliever Matt Bowman, Polanco capped a four-run seventh inning by slicing his homer barely over the wall in left field, just inside the foul pole.

“I was looking for a good pitch. He threw me one that was out and over the plate and it was something I could drive,” Polanco said. “Whenever you hit the ball to the opposite field, it’s good. I stayed with the pitch and hit it that way.”

“I was a little surprised it went out. I was more worried about it staying fair,” he said.

Cole (3-3) gave up two runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.

“He stayed aggressive and used all his pitches,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “I felt it was a really good bounce-back start from his last start. As the game went along, he got stronger.”

Mark Melancon relieved with the bases loaded in the ninth and got Yadier Molina to ground into a game-ending double play for his ninth save.

The Pirates took two of three at Busch Stadium and have won five of six from St. Louis this season.

“It’s always going to be a spirited series,” Hurdle said. “They play hard, they’re well-coached and they play to the finish. The way I look at it, we were a bad-bounce ground-rule double away from a sweep. It’s hard work to come in here and win, but we did it.”

Michael Wacha (2-3) lost his third consecutive decision for only the second time in his career, the first coming in 2014. He allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in six innings.

“I thought he was good,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “I thought his stuff looked very good. They were grinding out some of their at-bats.”

In his last three starts against the Pirates, Wacha has given up 15 runs and 20 hits in 14 1/3 innings.

Pittsburgh scored three times in the fifth for a 3-1 lead. After a one-out walk, Chris Stewart hit an RBI double.

“The one-out walk in the fifth got things going and it kind of snowballed,” Matheny said.

After fouling off several pitches, Jaso homered just over the wall in right field with two outs.

“He has a plan. He’s a very quiet guy but he’s a very cerebral guy,” Hurdle said. “He always goes up there with a plan. He’ll (swing) early, have extended at-bats.”

Wacha said Jaso hung tough in the at-bat that ended with the homer.

“I left a mistake changeup in the top of the zone and he didn’t miss,” Wacha said. “He put together a great at-bat.”

The Pirates added a run in the sixth when former Cardinals star David Freese hit an RBI single. He drove in Starling Marte, who doubled twice and singled.

Jaso, who had three hits, doubled home a run in the seventh against Bowman. Polanco added his homer for an 8-2 lead.

Rookie Jeremy Hazelbaker hit his sixth homer for St. Louis. Stephen Piscotty added four hits.

Molina had a two-run, two-out single in a three-run eighth for the Cardinals.

MOTHER’S DAY

Pirates: Pittsburgh wore new Mother’s Day uniforms and caps. The gray jersey had pink in the Pirates’ logo. The players all wore pink spikes. The Pirates also swung pink bats as teams have done since 2006 to raise funds and awareness to fight breast cancer.

Cardinals: St. Louis wore uniforms that incorporated pink in the Cardinals logo. Players wore dark gray hats highlighted by a hot pink STL logo and the jersey featured the Cardinals’ bird-on-the-bat logo in pink with uniform numbers in pink on the back. The Cardinals also wore pink spikes.

UMPIRES

Tom Woodring joined the crew and he umpired second base. Plate umpire Dana DeMuth left Saturday’s game after the second inning to be evaluated for a possible concussion. DeMuth was hit in the mask by a foul ball.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: 3B Jung Ho Kang was out of the starting lineup Sunday after playing back-to-back games. Kang made his season debut Friday in his return from a knee injury last September. He pinch-hit in the eighth inning.

Cardinals: Tommy Pham, out with a left oblique strain since opening day, remains on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Memphis that began Wednesday. Pham hit an RBI single in a 2-1 loss Saturday. The Cardinals said there is no timetable for Pham’s return.

UP NEXT

Pirates: Jonathon Niese (3-1, 5.94) at Cincinnati on Monday. Niese will be making his seventh start. He lost his first decision in his last start, allowing six runs in five innings in a 7-1 home loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Cardinals: On Tuesday, Mike Leake (0-3, 6.03) at Los Angeles Angels. It will be Leake’s seventh start and he is looking to earn his first win of the season as a member of the Cardinals. He has allowed four or more runs in his first six starts. In his last four starts, Leake has given up six home runs.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jung Ho Kang homered twice and Francisco Liriano continued his dominance at Busch Stadium as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Friday night.

Kang, who was activated from the disabled list before the game, ripped the first pitch he saw from Tyler Lyons into the right field bullpen for a two-run homer to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead in the sixth. Kang followed with a 427-foot homer into the upper deck in left in the eighth.

Liriano (3-1) improved to 4-0 with a 2.07 ERA in six career starts at Busch Stadium. Liriano fanned 10 through seven innings for his 24th career double-digit strikeout performance of his career.

Mark Melancon got his eighth save for Pittsburgh, which won its fifth straight road game and improved to 4-0 against the Cardinals this season.

Josh Harrison’s infield single scored Starling Marte to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the second. Harrison has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games and has nine RBI during that stretch.

Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez (4-2) left with one out in the fourth due to fatigue. He walked two of the three batters he faced in the inning to load the bases when he came out in favor of Lyons.

Martinez gave up a run in 3 1/3 innings and 29 of his 52 pitches were strikes.

Randal Grichuk scored from second on a Liriano wild pitch and Aledmys Diaz scored on a sacrifice fly in the seventh for the Cardinals runs.

BASE BURGLAR

Marte’s stolen base in the second inning was the first swipe off of Martinez in 36 innings this season. Only two runners stole bases in seven attempts against Martinez last season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: IF Jason Rogers was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis to make room for Kang.

Cardinals: C Brayan Pena (knee) took swings from both sides of the plate from a tee and ran at 75 percent for 20 minutes on a treadmill. No timetable for a return has been set.

“They say that I’m a little bit ahead of schedule,” Pena said. “I wasn’t expecting to hit this soon and for me to go out there and hit the way I did, I felt like a 20-year-old again.”

UP NEXT

Pirates: LHP Jeff Locke (1-2, 4.473 ERA) will start the second of a three-game series on Saturday. He is 2-4 with a 3.98 ERA in eight career starts against St. Louis.

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (2-3, 6.68) is seeking his third straight win. He slugged his seventh career home run Monday against the Phillies and became the first MLB pitcher to get three straight extra base hits since Arizona’s Micah Owings on Aug. 18, 2007.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jaime Garcia watched in wonder as teammate Brandon Moss launched a moonshot at Busch Stadium.

Garcia pitched seven sharp innings Thursday as the St. Louis Cardinals blanked the Philadelphia Phillies.

Later, Garcia wanted to rave about the 462-foot drive by Moss. It was the longest home run by a left-handed hitter in the history of new Busch Stadium, which opened in 2006.

“It was a bomb,” Garcia said. “He hit it a long way.”

Garcia also was impressive. The left-hander gave up just two hits, walked none and struck out five.

Garcia (2-2) threw 82 pitches, 61 for strikes.

“As far as stuff, it’s been great,” Garcia said. “I’ve just got to continue to build on that.”

The Phillies were certainly impressed.

“Basically, he had us eating out of his hands,” manager Pete Mackanin said. “He did everything you could ask a pitcher to do.”

Stephen Piscotty drove in two runs and also made an outstanding catch in right field to help preserve the shutout.

Moss unloaded off Jerad Eickhoff (1-4) for a solo homer in the first inning.

“I feel like I hit it really well,” Moss said. “I’m still searching for consistency, but I’ll take that one. Any homer is a good homer.”

Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal took over to pitch the ninth and gave up two quick singles.

Andres Blanco followed with a foul flyball to right and Piscotty ran a long way, then made a hard, headfirst dive onto the dirt for the catch.

“It was a great effort by our guys all over the field,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “We put together something late offensively, something good to build on.”

The Phillies threatened in the fifth after Cameron Rupp and Tyler Goeddel singled, but Peter Bourjos lined into a double play.

St. Louis scored three times in the seventh. Ruben Tejada hit a sacrifice fly and Piscotty delivered a bases-loaded double with two outs.

The Phillies scored just eight runs in the four-game series and lost three times. They were shut out twice.

“We’re not frustrated at all,” shortstop Freddy Galvis said. “That’s baseball right there. Sometimes you’re going to score runs, sometimes you’re not. We’ll be fine. We just have to keep working.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: 1B Matt Adams exited the game in the fourth because of a bruised left knee. He collided with Rupp on a play at first base in the first inning. He is listed as day-to-day.

“He took a knee to the quad,” Matheny said.

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (4-1, 1.44) will open a three-game series at Miami on Friday. He has not allowed an earned run in three of five starts this season. He will be opposed by LHP Wei-Yin Chen (2-1, 4.26) The Phillies are in the middle of a 10-game road trip.

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez (4-1, 2.60) faces Pittsburgh LHP Francisco Liriano (2-1, 3.86) in the opener of a three-game series on Friday. Martinez had pitched at least six innings in all five starts this season.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Matt Holliday delivered the St. Louis Cardinals’ first walk-off win of the season on Wednesday night and then was mobbed by his teammates.

“That’s why I work out,” he said, “just in case something like that happens.”

The Cardinals scored twice in the bottom of the ninth and Holliday’s RBI single with two outs was the difference in a 5-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

“It was an important game for us to win,” Holliday said. “We needed it and we need to win tomorrow to win the series. All games are important but this was one we needed to win.”

The Cardinals had lost five of their last six while the Phillies had won seven of eight and 10 of 12.

St. Louis rallied in the ninth against Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez, who had converted his first nine save opportunities this season.

Pinch-hitter Kolten Wong led off with a walk. With one out, pinch-hitter Matt Adams doubled off the wall in right-center, a play that was reviewed to see whether it went over the fence.

“I thought it hit that flower bed out there and bounced back,” Adams said. “I saw the umpire’s arms signal not a homer and I just had to get to second safely.”

After an intentional walk to load the bases with one out, Stephen Piscotty delivered an RBI infield single to tie the game and pitcher Carlos Martinez, pinch running for Adams, was out after rounding third.

Holliday then smacked a single through the left side of the infield to drive home the winning run.

“It’s, I think, a great example of the fight in this team to not let a 4-0 lead get us down and to fight right back so that’s a big win,” said Piscotty, who had three hits and two RBI. “That’s a confidence booster. We’re going to hopefully keep that momentum going.”

Ryan Howard’s seventh home run of the season, a three-run shot to center field in the fourth inning, gave the Phillies a 3-0 lead. That was the St. Louis native’s 23rd homer in 67 career games against the Cardinals.

Odubel Herrera added a solo home run in the fifth, his third, to make it 4-0.

Cardinals starter Mike Leake, the team’s big free agent addition of the offseason, entered the game with an 0-3 record and 5.83 ERA. He allowed four runs and four hits in five innings, his ERA rising to 6.03 after six starts.

The Cardinals scored three runs in the fifth with the help of two reviews.

Ruben Tejada led off the inning with a hit down the third-base line that was originally called foul but ruled a double after a 5-minute review. After a walk to Eric Fryer and pinch-hit single by Brandon Moss, Aledmys Diaz hit a single off the glove of shortstop Freddy Galvis that scored two runs. Fryer was safe at home on a close play that was reviewed, but not overturned.

Piscotty followed with an RBI single to score Moss and chase Phillies starter Adam Morgan, who allowed three runs and six hits in four-plus innings.

Phillies left fielder Tyler Goeddel made a catch at the wall to take a hit away from Jedd Gyorko to end the eighth inning.

“We walked five guys and three of them scored so the walks kind of hurt us,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. “But like I said Gomez walked the leadoff guy, which I wasn’t real happy about, but then he had a situation to get a ground ball. That’s what we wanted him to do, and he gave us a ground ball that found a hole.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham, out with a left oblique strain since opening day, began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday night. He went 1 for 2 with a two-run single, walk and stolen base.

WHO’S ON FIRST?

Yadier Molina got a break from his catching duties on Wednesday and became the Cardinals’ fifth starter at first base this season. Adams and Moss have started 11 games there, while Holliday has started four and Matt Carpenter has started one.

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP Jerad Eickhoff (1-3, 4.15) has never faced the Cardinals. He is coming off a no-decision against Cleveland after allowing three runs and six hits over six innings.

Cardinals: LHP Jaime Garcia (1-2, 3.73) will make his eighth start and 10th career appearance against Philadelphia. He is 2-4 with a 3.27 ERA in his previous nine appearances against the Phillies.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ryan Howard still gets psyched up to play in St. Louis.

The Philadelphia first baseman homered and Aaron Nola threw seven innings to lead the Phillies to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Philadelphia has won seven of eight while St. Louis has lost five of six.

Howard, a St. Louis native, has 12 homers and 40 RBI in 36 games in Busch Stadium.

“This is home, this is where it all began for me,” Howard said. “I guess, being at home, I do feel I see the ball a lot better.”

Howard has 22 homers in 66 career games against the Cardinals, his favorite boyhood team.

“For some reason guys hit well in certain ballparks,” Philadelphia manager Pete Mackanin said. “It was good to see him bust out.”

Howard broke out of an 0-for-12 skid with a sixth-inning homer off Michael Wacha (2-2) that traveled 411 feet. Howard, who attended Lafayette High in the St. Louis suburb of Wildwood, picked on the first pitch.

“I was just looking for something up in the zone,” Howard said. “He does a great job of keeping the ball down and putting it where he wants to put it. He kind of left that one over the middle and I tried to take advantage of it.”

Wacha admitted he made a mistake.

“A backed up cutter, I left it over the middle,” Wacha said. “He put a good swing on it. He doesn’t miss those.”

Nola (2-2) allowed two hits and struck out seven in a career-high 111-pitch stint. He has a string of 20 consecutive scoreless innings dating to April 22. Nola, who retired the last 10 batters, has given up one run or fewer in four of six starts this season.

“I feel like I’m mixing my pitches in well,” Nola said. “I’ve been trying to throw my changeup a little more. And tonight, when I did it, I felt like I used it efficiently.”

Jeanmar Gomez picked up his ninth save in as many opportunities. Hector Neris struck out the side in the eighth.

Right fielder Peter Bourjos made a diving catch of a sinking liner by Randal Grichuk to end the fourth inning with Yadier Molina on base.

Wacha gave up one run and five hits in eight innings. He struck out eight and walked three.

“What a great outing, he had everything,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s shame we weren’t able to get a little more going offensively.”

The Cardinals also threatened in the first inning. Matt Carpenter led off with a double, but Nola retired the next three hitters in order.

LATE SHOW

The Cardinals have scored a major league-best 61 runs after the sixth inning this season. They have hit 19 home runs in that stretch, also tops in the majors.

TRAINER’S ROOM:

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham, who took batting practice on Monday, will likely go out on a rehab assignment in the next few days. Pham has missed 26 games after being placed on the DL with a left oblique strain on April 4.

UP NEXT

Phillies: LHP Adam Morgan (0-0, 5.40) will make his second start of the season in the third game of the four-game series on Wednesday. Morgan gave up three runs in five innings of a 4-3 win over Cleveland on Friday.

Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (0-3, 5.83) will start for the Cardinals. He has given up four or more runs in all five starts this season. Leake, who was signed as a free agent on Dec. 23 after six years with Cincinnati, is 2/3 with a 6.00 ERA in eight career starts against Phillies.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright pitched six innings and hit a three-run home run — the first of five for St. Louis — as the Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 10-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night.

Matt Adams, rookie Aledmys Diaz and Randal Grichuk added solo homers and Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer to help St. Louis overcome a 3-0 deficit and avoid its first five-game slide since losing seven straight from July 26-31, 2013.

Wainwright, who has struggled since missing most of last season with an Achilles tendon injury, has won two straight. Wainwright (2-3) was the last Cardinals pitcher to get a win after yielding four runs over 5 1/3 innings in an 11-4 rout at Arizona on April 27.

In this victory, Wainwright pitched six innings, allowing three runs and five hits. He improved to 6-2 in 11 career starts against the Phillies.

Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson (2-2) got chased after 5 1/3 innings. In his first outing against St. Louis since 2011, Hellickson gave up six runs, seven hits and four walks as the Phillies had a six-game winning streak ended.

The Cardinals tied the game 3-3 in the fourth inning when Wainwright walloped a three-run homer 408 feet into the second deck in left field. Wainwright hit a 3-1 fastball for his seventh career home run and first since Sept. 5, 2012, against the New York Mets.

In his previous two plate appearances, Wainwright had extra base hits. He doubled in the first inning and hit a bases-loaded triple in his last at-bat against Arizona.

St. Louis made it 5-3 on back-to-back home runs by Adams and Diaz to start the sixth. Diaz’ 417-foot blast, his fifth, went into the second deck in left field. The sixth run came on Stephen Piscotty’s RBI single.

Wong hit his first homer of the season with two outs in the eighth and Grichuk followed with a solo shot, giving St. Louis a 9-3 lead.

St. Louis hit six homers in a 14-3 win over Cincinnati on April 15.

The final run for the Cardinals came on an RBI single by Brandon Moss.

The Phillies took a 3-0 lead in the third on three singles and a walk. Freddy Galvis drove in two runs with a bases-loaded double to left.

BATTING EIGHTH

The Phillies hit their pitcher in the eighth slot in the lineup for the 11th straight game. Philadelphia is 9-2 with that arrangement.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: LF Cody Asche, who has been on the 15-day DL due to a Grade 1 strain of his right oblique he suffered in February, took some swings before the game as he starts to begin some baseball activities.

Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham, who sustained a left oblique strain on Opening Day, took batting practice for the first time Monday since going on the DL April. 4. It is expected Pham may begin a minor league rehab assignment later this week. He has missed 25 games.

UP NEXT

Phillies: Aaron Nola (1-2, 3.55) will make his first career appearance against St. Louis. Nola’s last two starts have been solid. The 22-year-old rookie, who was the Phillies’ 2014 first-round draft pick, threw seven innings of one-run, four-hit ball in a 5-2 win in Milwaukee on April 22. In his last outing, Nola allowed two hits during seven innings in a 3-0 win at Washington but did not get the decision.

Cardinals: Michael Wacha (2-1, 3.07) will make his sixth start of the season. He has a 2.16 ERA in his last four starts with the Cardinals winning three games. He threw a season-high seven innings in his last start, a 3-0 loss at Arizona. He had a season-high nine strikeouts but gave up two home runs after not allowing any in his first four starts.

— Associated Press —