The Cardinals stayed hot winning their fifth straight game and sweeping the Pirates at PNC Park for the first time since August 2009, winning 8-3.
The Cardinals got on the scoreboard first with a Holliday home run in the top of the first. The Cardinals added 3 runs in the third with a Holliday RBI single, Piscotty RBI double, and a Peralta RBI to make it 4-0. Pittsburgh came back with 2 runs in the fourth with a Freese RBI single and a Marte RBI single to make it 4-2. The Cardinals added 4 runs in the sixth thanks to a Molina RBI single, a throwing error by Marte, a Moss RBI single, and a solo home run by Grichuk to make it 8-2. The Pirates added an run on a Mercer RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
Leake got the win moving to 5-4 on the season. Leake gave up 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 6 over 7 innings. Niese got the loss making him 6-3 on the year. Niese gave up 8 runs on 11 hits while striking out 5 and walking 1 over 5 and 1/3 innings.
The Cardinals return home with a 2 game series against the Astros starting Tuesday. First pitch is at 7:05 with coverage starting at 6:20 on 98.9 The Game.