ST. LOUIS _ The St. Louis Cardinals didn't have many chances, but they cashed in.
On a night when they managed just five baserunners, the Cardinals pushed two runs across the plate and held off the inconsistent Pirates offense in a 2-1 win Tuesday at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals (5-9) won consecutive games for the first time this season, and can sweep Wednesday.
The Pirates (6-8), a somber bunch in the aftermath of Starling Marte's 80-game suspension for testing positives for performance-enhancing drugs, were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. That hit, an infield single, did not score a run. Overall, the offense produced 11 hits but only one run.
They loaded the bases with one out in the ninth against closer Seung-Hwan Oh, but Phil Gosselin grounded into a fielder's choice, forcing out the lead runner, and Adam Frazier flied out.
"This was one of those weird days," Josh Harrison said before the game. "You've got to keep moving."
Cardinals right-hander Mike Leake tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run baseball, doling out seven hits and no walks.
Pirates right-hander Chad Kuhl needed just 72 pitches in six innings. He allowed two runs, both earned, three hits, one walk and struck out three. His ERA after three starts is 2.60. Kuhl got some help from Andrew McCutchen, who made two fine running catches in center field.
Before the game, when discussing his return to center field, McCutchen said he felt "all right" about the move. He looked more than fine in the early innings against the Cardinals, and he knew it. McCutchen tracked down a Jose Martinez line drive in the gap in the second, moving far to his right, and caught Leake's fly ball on the warning track in right center in the third.
After the second catch, McCutchen threw the ball in and thumped his right hand on his chest.
"This is my spot," he shouted, defiant.
He pointed toward the grass.
"This is my spot," he repeated.
The Pirates moved McCutchen from center field to right this offseason primarily, general manager Neal Huntington said, because Marte is one of the game's best defenders. But the fact McCutchen's range and advanced metrics had diminished also played into the decision.
The Cardinals got on the board early after a play McCutchen couldn't stop. Dexter Fowler tripled up the right-center gap leading off in the first inning, and he scored on Stephen Piscotty's fielder's choice grounder. First baseman Josh Bell threw home, but not in time to nail Fowler.
Kuhl sent down 11 in a row from the first through the fourth, though several outs contained hard contact. Of Kuhl's 18 total outs, only three were on ground balls _ the specialty of a sinker-baller.
In the fifth, the Cardinals added a second run. Martinez singled, then scored when Greg Garcia doubled. Garcia was thrown on a McCutchen-Harrison-David Freese relay, and the Cardinals stranded two runners on base later that inning.
The Pirates runners at first and second in the seventh and ninth. In the seventh, pinch-hitter Jose Osuna, making his major league debut, grounded into an inning-ending double play. In the ninth, Bell struck out on a full count, Jordy Mercer loaded the bases with an infield single, Gosselin grounded back to Oh for the force out and Frazier flied out to left.
