Rolen uses bat to bean Pirates

PITTSBURGH -- Scott Rolen had three hits and two RBIs in his return to the lineup two days after he was hit in the helmet with a pitch, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 on Thursday night.

Woody Williams (3-5) pitched six scoreless innings as the Cardinals swept the four-game series, and improved to 19-9 on the road, best in the National League. No team has won more games at PNC Park than the Cardinals, who are 22-6 there.

Jason Isringhausen got four outs for his 11th save in 14 chances.

The Pirates lost their fifth in a row and dropped to an NL-worst 9-18 at home.

Both managers were ejected with two outs in the top of the ninth when Pirates reliever Mike Gonzalez sent Tony Womack to the dirt with a high, inside pitch. Before the next pitch, Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon stormed out of the dugout and headed toward the Cardinals dugout to confront opposing manager Tony La Russa.

Plate umpire Brian Gorman and first-base umpire Dale Scott tried to restrain McClendon, who forged ahead. La Russa came onto the field, and the umpires stood between the managers as they exchanged heated words along the first-base line near the Cardinals dugout.

The benches and bullpens emptied, and there was physical contact but no players were ejected.

La Russa criticized the Pirates' Ryan Vogelsong two nights earlier after Vogelsong hit Rolen in the head with a pitch.

Rolen, who leads the majors with 55 RBIs, missed Wednesday's game with a mild concussion as a result.

Williams and Pirates starter Oliver Perez (3-3) waged a scoreless duel through five before the Cardinals scored twice in the sixth.

After Edgar Renteria's two-out double off the left-field wall, Perez hit Albert Pujols on the ankle with an 0-2 pitch. Rolen then hit Perez's first pitch for a two-run double.

Woody Williams added a sacrifice fly in the seventh, scoring catcher Yadier Molina, who made his major league debut.

Williams, who had been off to his worst start since 1999, improved to 6-2 lifetime against the Pirates. He gave up six hits, struck out six and walked two in six-plus innings.

In the first inning, Kendall extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a single. It's the second-longest streak in the NL this season. Arizona's Danny Bautista hit safely in 21 straight games in April.

Perez gave up five hits, struck out four and walked two in seven innings.

Cardinals right fielder Reggie Sanders made a perfect throw to home to cut down Abraham Nunez trying to score from second on Perez's first-inning single.

Sanders hit an RBI double in the eighth to make it 4-0.

The Pirates scored twice in the bottom of the eighth on Rob Mackowiak's sacrifice fly and Womack's fielding error at second base. Isringhausen struck out Abraham Nunez to end the inning.

Notes: Molina replaced injured catcher Mike Matheny, who was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained muscle below his right rib cage. ... Molina, whose has two brothers in the majors who are also catchers (Anaheim's Bengie and Jose), got his first major league hit in the fourth, lining a sharp single to left. He also doubled in the seventh. ... It was "Classic Night" at PNC Park. Instead of live, animated videos, the Jumbotron scoreboard remained static with an image representing the scoreboard at old Forbes Field. There also was no music other than an organist.