Jung Ho Kang homers twice as Pirates beat Cardinals 4-2

ST. LOUIS -- Jung Ho Kang homered twice and Francisco Liriano continued his dominance at Busch Stadium as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Friday night.

Kang, who was activated from the disabled list before the game, ripped the first pitch he saw from Tyler Lyons into the right field bullpen for a two-run homer to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead in the sixth. Kang followed with a 427-foot homer into the upper deck in left in the eighth.

Liriano (3-1) improved to 4-0 with a 2.07 ERA in six career starts at Busch Stadium. Liriano fanned 10 through seven innings for his 24th career double-digit strikeout performance of his career.

Mark Melancon got his eighth save for Pittsburgh, which won its fifth straight road game and improved to 4-0 against the Cardinals this season.

Josh Harrison's infield single scored Starling Marte to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the second. Harrison has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games and has nine RBI during that stretch.

Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez (4-2) left with one out in the fourth due to fatigue. He walked two of the three batters he faced in the inning to load the bases when he came out in favor of Lyons.

Martinez gave up a run in 3 1/3 innings and 29 of his 52 pitches were strikes.

Randal Grichuk scored from second on a Liriano wild pitch and Aledmys Diaz scored on a sacrifice fly in the seventh for the Cardinals runs.

Base burglar

Marte's stolen base in the second inning was the first swipe off of Martinez in 36 innings this season. Only two runners stole bases in seven attempts against Martinez last season.

Trainer's room

Pirates: IF Jason Rogers was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis to make room for Kang.

Cardinals: C Brayan Pena (knee) took swings from both sides of the plate from a tee and ran at 75 percent for 20 minutes on a treadmill. No timetable for a return has been set.