ST. LOUIS _ Paul Goldschmidt's three-run homer in the seventh inning proved to be the difference as the Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 before a Wednesday afternoon crowd of 43,186 at Busch Stadium.
With Pittsburgh up 4-3 and one out in the seventh, Tommy Edman singled up the middle and Jose Martinez followed with a walk. After Pittsburgh replaced reliever Francisco Liriano with reliever Michael Feliz, Goldschmidt connected on a 2-2 pitch for his 18th homer of the season.
Just like that a 4-3 deficit became a 6-4 lead. The Pirates picked up a run in the ninth on a Bryan Reynolds hit, but the Cardinals held on to wrap up a 4-2 home stand.
The Pirates had two on when Carlos Martinez got Starling Marte to hit into a forceout to end the game.
The Cardinals' Tyler O'Neill cut the Pittsburgh lead to one with a solo homer with two outs in the fifth. It was the fifth homer of the season for O'Neill.
In the Pirate fourth, Melky Cabrera led off with a single and Colin Moran followed with a walk. After Jung Ho Kang hit into a double play and the Cardinals walked No. 8 hitter Jacob Stallings intentionally, Pittsburgh pitcher Chris Archer came up with his second hit of the day, a single to right that tied the game at 2-2.
After Kevin Newman singled to load the bases, Bryan Reynolds blooped a hit to shallow center that drove in two to put the Pirates on top 4-2. It also ended Daniel Ponce de Leon's day.
Reliever Dominic Leone got Starling Marte to end the inning.
The Cardinals took their first lead of the day with a run in the second inning. Yairo Munoz led off with an infield hit and Andrew Knizner followed with a double into the gap in left-center. It was the first hit of Kninzer's major league career.
After a strikeout, Tommy Edman walked to load the bases for Jose Martinez, who delivered a sacrifice fly to right to put the Cardinals on top 2-1.
The Pirates threatened in the third, getting a lead-off single from Chris Archer and an infield hit from Kevin Newman to open the inning. But the Cardinals' Daniel Ponce de Leon struck out Bryan Reynolds, got Starling Marte on a flyout and Jose Osuna on a groundout to end the threat.
Visiting Pittsburgh grabbed the lead when Starling Marte hit a 2-0 pitch into the left-field stands with two outs in the top of the first inning. It was his 16th homer of the season.
In the bottom of the inning, Tommy Edman led off with a single, took second on an infield out and scored on a two-out single to right from Tyler O'Neill to tie it.
The Cardinals used the long ball for most of their runs on Wednesday, getting a three-run homer from Paul Goldschmidt in the seventh and a solo shot in the fifth from Tyler O'Neill, who also drove in the home team's first run with a two-out single in the first. The Cardinals' other run came on a Jose Martinez sacrifice fly. Tommy Edman had a pair of hits for the Redbirds.
Picking up the win in relief with two perfect innings of relief was John Brebbia (3-3), who struck out the side in the sixth and added another strikeout in the seventh.
Carlos Martinez pitched the ninth, giving up three hits while picking up his sixth save of the season.
The Pirates outhit the Cardinals 11-7, getting two hits and an RBI from starting pitcher Chris Archer and three hits from Kevin Newman. Bryan Reynolds added two hits and drove in three while Starling Marte homered, driving in the other Pittsburgh run.
