St. Louis held off a late rally by the Pirates for the victory at Busch Stadium. In the progress, the Cardinals snapped their three-game losing streak; the Pirates three-game winning streak was also snapped.
The Cardinals took the lead in the third inning when Kolten Wang led off with a homer to fight field off Ivan Nova.
St. Louis scored another run in the seventh inning on a Jose Martinez RBI single. The second run was set up by a Randal Grichuk single and a throwing error by catcher Francisco Cervelli when Grichuk was attempting to steal second base.
The Pirates cut the lead to 2-1 on a Gregory Polanco RBI double with two outs in the ninth, scoring Josh Bell. Pinch-hitter John Jaso grounded out to first to end the game and earn Sueng-Hwan Oh his first save of the season.
Pirates starter Ivan Nova gave up just three hits over eight innings, striking out three without allowing a walk.
On Tuesday night, Chad Kuhl will match up against Mike Leake.
