ST. LOUIS (AP) – Gerrit Cole pitched seven scoreless innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates used home runs from Aramis Ramirez, Sean Rodriguez and Starling Marte to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-1 Sunday night.
Cole (16-8) gave up two hits, struck out seven and walked three as he bounced back from his worst start of the season. He threw a 99 mph fastball on his 94th pitch.
Second-place Pittsburgh cut the Cardinals’ lead in the NL Central to 5 1/2 games and earned its first series victory at Busch Stadium since April 2013. The teams are 8-8 against each other with one series to play at Pittsburgh in the final week of the season.
John Lackey (11-9) gave up three runs and 10 hits in 7 1-3 innings but extended his streak of quality starts at home to 15.
Cole also drove in his first run of the season with a two-out single in the seventh off Lackey. Cole was 12 years old when he was at Angels Stadium rooting for Lackey, then a rookie with the Angels, during his Game 7 win in the 2002 World Series.