Lynn notches 10th win

ST. LOUIS -- Lance Lynn reached double figures in wins before the All-Star break for the third straight year and Kolten Wong homered for the second game in a row, helping the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates for the third straight time, 5-2 on Wednesday night.

Matt Adams had three hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals, who will go for a four-game sweep over the NL Central rival they beat in the division series last fall today, although they might have to do it without All-Star catcher Yadier Molina.

A trainer attended to Molina on the field after he slid feet-first into third base advancing on a groundout in the second and came up shaking the right hand after planting it a bit for balance. Molina remained in the game and caught the top of the third before he was lifted for pinch-hitter Tony Cruz in the bottom half.

Cruz then replaced Molina behind the plate.

Molina was voted to his sixth straight NL All-Star team on Sunday and is a starter for the fourth time. He doubled in the second inning and was hitting .287 with seven homers and 30 RBIs.

St. Louis Cardinals' Kolten Wong watches his solo home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday, July 9, 2014, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Neil Walker homered and doubled for Pittsburgh, which had won 12 of 15 entering the series and dropped the first two on game-winning, ninth-inning homers by Adams and Wong.

Rookie Brandon Cumpton (3-3) started in place of injured Gerrit Cole and allowed four runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Lynn (10-6) allowed two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings and has 32 wins before the All-Star break his first three seasons in the rotation. The right-hander is tied for most pre-All-Star wins with Detroit's Max Scherzer over that stretch and is the first Cardinals pitcher to reach 10 wins before the break in three straight seasons since Hall of Famer Bob Gibson totaled 34 wins from 1968-70.

Walker's 12th homer leading off the second was the first allowed by Lynn at home this season.

Adams' two-run double in the first put the Cardinals ahead to stay and he added two singles to give him 12 in the last six games. Wong hit his fourth homer off Justin Wilson in the eighth.

St. Louis Cardinals' Matt Adams, right, is tagged out at third by Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 9, 2014, in St. Louis. Two run scored on the play before Adams was tagged out. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Matt Holliday had two hits, two walks and an RBI and Jhonny Peralta had an RBI double for St. Louis.

Cumpton was in constant trouble and the Cardinals missed a chance to bust it open by stranding nine runners the first four innings.

Trevor Rosenthal worked the ninth for his 27th save in 31 chances. Peter Bourjos made a leaping catch for the final out at the wall in center field with a man on to rob Russell Martin of extra bases.

Kelly returns Friday

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Joe Kelly is set to return to the rotation Friday from a hamstring injury that's sidelined him nearly three months.

Kelly was injured running to first April 17. He's 1-1 with an 0.59 ERA in three starts heading into the start in Milwaukee and was 10-5 last year with a 2.69 ERA.

The right-hander is one of three starters on the disabled list. Michael Wacha is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his pitching shoulder sustained in mid-June, and lefty Jaime Garcia will undergo season-ending thoracic outlet surgery Friday in St. Louis to relieve nerve issues that caused numbness and tingling in his shoulder, arm and hand resulting in a loss of feel for his pitches.

Left-hander Kevin Siegrist was set to begin a minor rehab stint from a forearm strain that landed him on the DL on May 24.

Noteworthy

* Attendance of 43,941 was the 28th sellout for the Cardinals including five of the first six games of a seven-game homestand.

* Shelby Miller (7-7, 4.15) will try to beat the Pirates for the third consecutive start this season today and will oppose Edinson Volquez (7-6, 3.88). Volquez is 3-0 his last three starts allowing two earned runs in 21 innings, but is 3-6 with a 5.58 ERA against the Cardinals.

* The Cardinals have won 10 of the last 12 at home against Pittsburgh.

* Cole was placed on the 15-day DL with right lat soreness retroactive to July 5.