ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Interstat) — Spencer Horwitz homered, Konnor Griffin had four singles and scored three runs, and the Pittsburgh Pirates blanked the St. Louis Cardinals 7-0 on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium III. Carmen Mlodzinski (4-3) allowed four hits and a walk over five innings, improving to 3-0 in 11 career appearances against St. Louis. Yohan Ramírez, Evan Sisk, Justin Lawrence and Dennis Santana each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Pittsburgh jumped ahead in the second on Horwitz’s solo homer. Jhostynxon Garcia singled in a run in the fourth, Nick Gonzales added a sacrifice fly in the sixth and Bryan Reynolds doubled in two during a four-run eighth. The Pirates outhit the Cardinals 15-5. Michael McGreevy (3-3) took the loss, surrendering 10 hits and three earned runs over five innings. The Pirates improved to 25-24, while the Cardinals fell to 28-20. Attendance was 27,185. Time of game was 3:09.

ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — Carmen Mlodzinski pitched five innings of four-hit shutout ball and the Pittsburgh Pirates broke open a close game with a four-run eighth inning Wednesday night, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 7-0 at Busch Stadium III. Mlodzinski, who allowed no runs and struck out one while walking one, improved to 4-3 on the season. He outdueled St. Louis starter Michael McGreevy, who fell to 3-3 after giving up three runs on 10 hits over five innings. The Pirates, now 25-24, snapped a three-game losing streak and avoided a series sweep after losing the opener Tuesday in 10 innings. The Cardinals fell to 28-20, their second loss in three games. The game was scoreless until the top of the second inning, when Spencer Horwitz launched a solo home run to right field, his fourth of the season. The Pirates added a run in the fourth on an RBI single by Jhostynxon Garcia that scored Konnor Griffin, who had led off the inning with a single. Pittsburgh made it 3-0 in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Nick Gonzales that brought home Griffin again. The decisive rally came in the eighth inning, when the Pirates sent eight batters to the plate against three Cardinals relievers. Konnor Griffin singled off Matt Svanson to start the inning, and Endy Rodríguez followed with a single to put runners at the corners. After Garcia struck out, Jake Mangum singled to right to score Griffin and move Rodríguez to third. Nick Gonzales then singled to right to drive in Rodríguez and send Mangum to second. Brandon Lowe flied out, but Bryan Reynolds doubled to left, scoring both Mangum and Gonzales to make it 7-0. The rally came after the Cardinals’ bullpen had held Pittsburgh scoreless in the seventh on two innings from Justin Bruihl and a third of an inning from Matt Pushard. St. Louis managed only five hits and never advanced a runner past third base. The Cardinals loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth on a single, a hit batter and a walk, but Mlodzinski induced a strikeout of Masyn Winn and a sharp flyout by César Prieto to end the threat. Justin Lawrence, Evan Sisk, Dennis Santana and Yohan Ramírez each pitched a scoreless inning in relief, combining for four innings of one-hit ball with five strikeouts. The Pirates outhit the Cardinals 15-5. Nick Gonzales went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Horwitz finished 1-for-5 with the home run and an RBI. Konnor Griffin had three hits and scored three times. Reynolds drove in two runs with his double. For St. Louis, JJ Wetherholt had two hits. Mlodzinski’s outing continued a strong recent stretch. In his previous start, he earned a win against Colorado on May 14 with five innings of two-run ball. Before that, he took a loss at San Francisco on May 8 after allowing two runs over six innings. Wednesday marked his first career shutout appearance of five or more innings. The Cardinals had won four straight in the season series entering the game, including a 9-6 win the previous night. St. Louis had taken the first four games at PNC Park in late April and early May. Pittsburgh ended a five-game head-to-head losing streak with the victory. The game took 3 hours 9 minutes and drew an announced attendance of 27,185. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave St. Louis a 55.30 percent probability to win. Pittsburgh was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 7 went over the over-under line of 7.5.

ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — The St. Louis Cardinals look to extend their recent dominance over the Pittsburgh Pirates when the National League Central rivals conclude a two-game series Wednesday night at Busch Stadium III. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. CDT under a forecast of 69 degrees and rain. The Cardinals (27-19) have won five consecutive meetings against Pittsburgh, including a 2-0 victory Tuesday. St. Louis holds a three-game lead over the Pirates (24-23) in the division standings. Right-hander Michael McGreevy (3-2, 3.86 ERA) is expected to start for Pittsburgh. He will face Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante (2-2, 3.86 ERA), who delivered a strong performance Sunday despite a 2-0 loss to Kansas City, allowing one earned run over 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts. Pittsburgh enters on a three-game losing streak, all by shutout. The Pirates were swept at home by Philadelphia, losing twice by 6-0 scores and dropping the series opener 11-9 in 10 innings. Pittsburgh has scored just nine runs total over its last four games. St. Louis returns home after splitting a four-game series against the Royals, losing 2-0 on Sunday. The Cardinals have won six of their last nine. Players to watch Pirates reliever Yohan Ramírez has been effective in recent outings, posting a 0.00 ERA over four of his last five appearances. In his last two games, both against the Phillies, he struck out six over two scoreless innings. However, he was tagged for five earned runs in 0 1/3 innings May 5 at Arizona. Pallante has been steady for the Cardinals, posting a 2.08 ERA over his last three starts. He faced the Pirates on April 29, earning the win after allowing one run over six innings with six strikeouts. Betting and simulation Interstat’s game simulator projects a 5-4 Cardinals victory. Despite that projection, Pittsburgh has been installed as a -1.5 run-line favorite. The over/under is 7.5 runs. The series continues Thursday before the Pirates travel to Toronto and the Cardinals visit Cincinnati.