Cardinals' bats help end skid

ST. LOUIS -- David Freese had a go-ahead two-run single in the fifth and Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to an 8-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

The Cardinals ended a three-game losing streak and moved within 9 1/2 games of idle Milwaukee in the NL Central. Pittsburgh lost for the sixth time in nine games.

Freese blooped a bases-loaded hit down the right-field line with one out to put St. Louis in front to stay. Allen Craig began the inning with a single. Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton (9-7) then walked Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman.

Holliday hit a three-run homer off reliever Tony Watson in the eighth. It was Holliday's 19th home run of the season.

St. Louis starter Edwin Jackson (10-9) allowed one earned run and struck out two. He walked three in his sixth start for the Cardinals. Jackson, acquired in a trade from Toronto on July 27, reached 10 wins for the fourth straight season.

Cardinals third baseman David Freese hits a two-run single during the fifth inning Thursday in St. Louis. (JEFF ROBERSON ~ Associated Press)

St. Louis relievers Marc Rzepczynski, Jason Motte and Fernando Salas combined for three scoreless innings. Motte struck out Ronny Cedeno and got Ryan Doumit to fly out with a runner on third and one out to end the eighth.

The Pirates took a 4-3 lead in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Cedeno and Michael McKenry.

St. Louis jumped to a 3-0 lead with two runs in the first and one in the second. Pujols and Berkman had RBI singles in the first. Skip Schumaker drove in Rafael Furcal with a two-out single in the second.

Pittsburgh scored three unearned runs in the third to tie the game. Garrett Jones' two-run bases-loaded single was the big blow. An error by Freese at third opened the gates for the two-out rally.

Morton gave up nine hits and five earned runs over 4 1/3 innings. Morton was 1-0 with an 0.95 ERA in his previous four starts.

Cardinals center fielder Allen Craig dives but cannot reach a ball during the third inning Thursday in St. Louis.

Noteworthy

* Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Milwaukee were tied for first in the NL Central on July 24.

* Pittsburgh must go 21-11 the rest of the way to finish .500 or better for the first time in 19 years.

* Furcal batted eighth for the first time this season Thursday.

* Cardinals INF Ryan Theriot, mired in an 0-for-10 slump, had a sacrifice bunt in the eighth.