Cardinals 5, Pirates 4
Cardinals 5. Pirates 4: Yadier Molina and Allen Craig homered as the host Cardinals avoided a sweep and snapped Pittsburgh’s four-game win streak.
Molina’s solo shot and Craig’s two-run homer staked Jake Westbrook (7-6) to a 3-0 advantage, but the Pirates grabbed the lead in a four-run fourth. Michael McKenry capped the outburst with a 420-foot, three-run homer to left-center.
St. Louis retook the lead in the fifth. Matt Holliday delivered an RBI double, then scored on Shane Robinson’s two-out single.
Westbrook allowed four runs on nine hits, striking out six and walking one, to improve to 1-5 lifetime against Pittsburgh. Jason Motte pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for his 17th save in 21 chances.
Erik Bedard (4-9) lost his fifth straight road start, yielding five runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Pirates have homered in nine straight games and have hit 11 in the last five games. But they failed in their bid for their first five-game win streak since 2010.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Pirates played without CF Andrew McCutchen, who hurt his left wrist making a diving catch Saturday. It was the first game he’d missed since he got stomach flu the first week of May. …. Cards RF Carlos Beltran, who has an MLB-best nine-game RBI streak, was given the day off. ... Craig has two homers and five RBIs in the last three games.