PITTSBURGH—The Cardinals recently had homered in 12 consecutive games and 14 of 15, yet netting them only a middling record of 7-8. So they switched gears, hitting 10 singles to account for all their runs Friday night en route to a 5-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Of course, more efficient starting pitching had something to do with it, too. Adam Wainwright, chalking up win No. 189 of his career, extended his mastery over the Pirates to 38 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings, holding the Pirates to three singles before giving up a home run to Michael Chavis in the seventh, his final inning.