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Pineiro, Duncan help Cards past Pirates

Sep 5, 2007 - 4:38 AM ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Joel Pineiro continues to be a pleasant surprise for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Pineiro allowed two runs in 5 2/3 solid innings and Chris Duncan hit a key three-run double as the Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2, on Tuesday.

David Eckstein had three hits and scored twice for the Cardinals, who have won 16 of their last 21 games at home.

The Cardinals (68-67) moved within one game of the National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs (70-67), who lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and one-half game behind the Milwaukee Brewers (70-68), who beat the Houston Astros.

"A win is a win and we needed a win big time," Pineiro said.

St. Louis has now won five of the seven games started by Pineiro (4-2), who was acquired for a player to be named later from the Boston Red Sox on July 31. The 28-year-old righthander pitched around trouble, scattering eight hits and striking out two.

"I'm just glad I'm starting again," Pineiro said. "Going through the routine and not waiting to come out of the pen. Starting is what I love to do and I have been doing it for a lot of years. I'm reviving myself as a starter, that's what I want to do."

With the score tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the third inning, the Cardinals loaded the bases with two outs against Pittsburgh starter Matt Morris. Duncan, who had not recorded an extra-base hit in his last 28 at-bats, lined the 2-1 pitch to left field, clearing the bases and giving St. Louis a 5-2 lead.

"It felt good to help contribute," Duncan said. "I've been struggling, grinding, trying to get through it. I was happy to get a hit with some guys on base. It felt good."

"We score the two runs (in the top of the third)," Morris said. "(To) go out there and give up the three (runs) right there with two outs is tough to take."

The Pirates brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the top of the eighth inning, but Ryan Franklin got Nate McLouth to pop out to second base with the bases loaded.

"I knew (McLouth) was a good off-speed hitter," Franklin said. "I think he may have been sitting on my curveball and I just pounded him in with my cutters."

Franklin finished the game with a perfect ninth inning for his first career save.

Morris (8-9) allowed five runs and five hits in five innings, making his second start against his former team. The veteran righthander had spent the first eight seasons of his career in St. Louis.

"(The Cardinals) approach on me was a little different," Morris said. "It wasn't what the scouting report says as far as those guys going out and trying to hook balls. They were just trying to hit the fastball the other way and sit on some breaking stuff."

The Cardinals got on the board in the bottom of the first inning, when Eckstein led off with a double and scored on Rick Ankiel's RBI double to right. Two batters later, Ankiel scored on Jim Edmonds' sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.

The Pirates answered back to tie the game in the top of the third. Ronny Paulino and Jack Wilson started off the inning with singles and moved into scoring position on Morris' sacrifice. Nyjer Morgan's ground out scored one run and Jose Bautista followed with an RBI double to center, tying the game at 2-2.

Russell Branyan hit his first home run in a Cardinals uniform in the bottom of the sixth inning, to give St. Louis a 6-2 lead.

Pittsburgh went 4-for-16 with runners on base and just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position as they had a three-game winning streak against the Cardinals snapped.

"We had our chances offensively," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "We needed a two-out base hit here or there and we just weren't able to get it. When you have people on you have to get a hit here or there. We couldn't do that."