PITTSBURGH _ The doubles thumping off the center-field wall at PNC Park awakened the Pirates bullpen. With rookie right-hander Chad Kuhl stuck in a second-inning shelling, left-hander Jeff Locke loosened. The St. Louis Cardinals would show him no mercy, either, in their 12-6 shellacking in the series opener.
Waxed again, the Pirates (67-68) extended their losing streak to seven games, their longest since Aug. 19, 2014. They also dipped below .500 for the first time in two months.
After being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend, manager Clint Hurdle mentioned the schedule set up favorably for the Pirates. They got to play the team they were chasing for a wild-card spot, he said. Every win is a game gained, but every loss an even bigger blow.
With 27 games remaining, the Pirates have slid to 4 { games behind the Cardinals.
Before the game, the Pirates returned infielder Jung Ho Kang from the 15-day disabled list, leaving them a Gerrit Cole return away from full strength. The Cardinals, meanwhile, own an injury log that is 10 players long. St. Louis even lost its third-base coach for the season.
Still, St. Louis has managed to keep the Pirates at bay. Pittsburgh has hurt its cause, too.
Catcher Francisco Cervelli left in the fifth inning because of left thumb discomfort. The cause and severity of the injury is not yet known. Cervelli, batting .264 this season, spent a month on the disabled list after fracturing the hamate bone in his left hand June 10.
Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright wasn't particularly sharp, giving up four runs on seven hits in five innings, but he chipped in an RBI double and an RBI single in three at-bats. His fourth-inning single was his first non-extra-base hit in 10 hits this season.
Kuhl lasted just two innings, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks. The bullpen, taxed by the Brewers series, combined to allow nine runs, six earned.
Kuhl's command played a part in his early exit. Two walks helped load the bases in the first, a jam Kuhl escaped by inducing a grounder from Randall Grichuk. A leadoff second-inning walk set up the Pirates' first run, which scored when Wainwright clobbered a first-pitch sinker off the wall.
A hit by pitch prompted pitching coach Ray Searage to visit the mound. After Stephen Piscotty detonated a double off the top of the wall, a few feet from crashing in the Cardinals bullpen, Matt Adams singled and Cervelli called for a trainer to check on Kuhl. He stayed in the game, got the third out and was lifted for pinch-hitter Josh Bell in the home half of the frame.
Bell shooting an RBI double down the left-field line brought the Pirates within a run, 3-2, in the second. But there ended any realistic chance the Pirates had at a come-from-behind victory.
The long reliever Locke allowed seven runs, four earned, in three innings. He issued two walks and gave up five walks, including tape-measure homers to Jedd Gyorko and Adams, a pair of Cardinals with local ties. Errors by David Freese and Bell led to three unearned runs in the fourth.
The fifth inning was the first in which the Cardinals leadoff man did not reach base. But with one out Piscotty was hit by pitch and Adams slugged a two-run shot to right-center field.
Andrew McCutchen answered with his 20th home run this season, and it was 10-4 after five.
After right-hander Jared Hughes tossed two scoreless innings, left-hander Antonio Bastardo, working at his typically leisurely pace, ushered home two runs on three hits in the eighth.
Closer Tony Watson, unused the previous five games, ended the suffering with a scoreless ninth.
Adam Frazier closed the scoring with his second career home run, a solo shot in the ninth.
