Cardinals sweep

~ Braden Looper shined again as St. Louis dumped Pittsburgh.

ST. LOUIS -- Last year, Braden Looper was a setup man and Yadier Molina batted .216.

The St. Louis Cardinals' best starter and their newest offensive threat helped complete a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Looper won for the third time in four outings and Molina extended his hitting streak to 15 games and had two RBIs in a 3-1 victory Thursday. Looper was tied for the NL lead with six victories, while Molina's average climbed to .304.

The catcher, one of the team's surprise hitting stars in the postseason, is batting .396 (17-for-48) during his streak. It's the team's longest since Albert Pujols had a 17-game run in 2005.

"I'm just trying to swing at good pitches," Molina said. "If I wait for my pitch and make a good swing, the results are going to be better."

Looper (6-3) is the de facto ace for a team missing Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder. He rebounded from a shaky start in Detroit, one of only two clunkers in his first 10 starts.

"That fifth day comes around a little faster than I thought it would," Looper said. "For the most part you try to forget about it, go to work and get everything done.

"I felt real good and hopefully I feel as good next time."

Both of the Cardinals' sweeps this season have come against the Pirates, the other on the road in April. Before the series, the Cardinals had lost five in a row and were nine games below .500.

"I see a lot more smiles on guys' faces and music in the locker room," Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen said. "It's not quiet, so that's a start."

Jose Bautista's homer ended a 41-inning long ball drought for the Pirates, who have lost five in a row and seven of nine. Pittsburgh was 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and two outs in the series.

"If we could get something going offensively and get that big at-bat, it would do wonders for us," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "We can't get it right now."

Looper allowed only two other hits in six innings. He had thrown 21 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings against the Pirates before Bautista's homer, a ball he referred to as "wind-blown," and is 5-0 with a 1.41 ERA in five day starts.

Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny (5-3) bruised his left thumb deflecting Aaron Miles' smash up the middle with one out in the sixth, an infield hit that loaded the bases. Gorzelanny was removed from the game after 118 pitches. X-rays were negative and the left-hander is not expected to miss a turn in the rotation.

"I guess you could say it was scary, but I'm fine," Gorzelanny said. "It's just a pretty bad bruise."

Gorzelanny, who limited the Cardinals to one run in 15 1/3 innings in two April starts, gave up two runs on 10 hits.