PITTSBURGH --- Michael Wacha is making up for lost time.

After being a postseason hero for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013 as a rookie, the right-hander was limited to 19 starts last season because of a stress fracture in his pitching shoulder.

However, Wacha raised his record to 5-0 and second baseman Kolten Wong had a three-run homer among his three hits Friday night as Cardinals kept rolling with an 8-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Wacha (5-0) worked six innings and allowed three runs (two earned) and six hits. The right-hander had no walks and one strikeout.

"It's all health," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "If he would have been healthy last year, he would have been pitching like this. He's a very talented pitcher and our decision to be aggressive with getting him rest last year is paying off this year."

Wong's homer, the third of the season for the second baseman, broke the game open as it capped a four-run seventh inning and extended the Cardinals' lead to 8-3.

The Cardinals, off to the best start in club history at 22-7, won for the 10th time in their last 11 games and improved to 17-5 against National League Central opponents.

Wong was glad his homer helped the Cardinals maintain a 6 1/2-game advantage over the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, the largest advantage for any of the major leagues' six division leaders.

The Pirates have lost all four games against the Cardinals so far this season and are nine games back after finishing second to St. Louis in the division each of the previous two years.

"Separating ourselves is really huge and doing against these guys, a really good team, is really big," Wong said.

Left fielder Matt Holliday also hit a three-run homer, his second home run of the year, in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie. Shortstop Jhonny Peralta extended his hitting streak to six games with a long solo home run, his fourth homer of the year, off the batter's eye in center field in the second inning that tied the score.

"It's nice to not just get the big hits but get the home runs to get us going," Matheny said. "Jhonny's was a monster shot, Holliday's was a laser and then Kolten really got into one too with two men on base. That was the difference in the game."

Center fielder Peter Bourjos had two doubles and catcher Yadier Molina also had two of the Cardinals' 11 hits.

Closer Trevor Rosenthal pitched a scoreless ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances.

Francisco Liriano (1-2) struck out 10 in 6 1/3 innings but was tagged for six runs (five earned) and six hits. Right-hander Arquimedes Caminero relieved Liriano and gave up Wong's home run.

"Frankie paid for his mistakes," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "On the pitches where he missed his location, they squared him up. The balls he put in spots, they put the barrel on."

Left fielder Starling Marte had three hits for the Pirates (13-16), who lost for the sixth time in seven games. Second baseman Neil Walker, center fielder Andrew McCutchen and catcher Francisco Cervelli added two hits each to Pittsburgh's 12-hit attack.

McCutchen, who finished third in the NL MVP voting last season, has gone 5-for-8 in the last two games to lift his batting average from .188 to .221.

McCutchen doubled and scored on first baseman Pedro Alvarez's groundout in the sixth to draw the Pirates within 4-3 before the Cardinals pulled away on Wong's homer.

The Pirates scored single runs in the seventh and eighth. Walker singled in the first run and the second plated on a double-play grounder by pinch-hitter Corey Hart.

A fielding error by Cardinals third baseman Pete Kozma allowed the Pirates to score a first-inning run.

The Cardinals then used the homers by Peralta and Holliday to move in front 4-1 in the third.

The Pirates got a run back in the bottom of the third on Marte's RBI single.

"That's a tough lineup," Liriano said of the Cardinals. "You cannot make mistakes against them."

NOTES: Cardinals 3B Matt Carpenter did not accompany the team to Pittsburgh and will miss the three-game series because of extreme fatigue. Manager Mike Matheny said Carpenter had an accelerated heart rate and dehydration. Carpenter sat out Thursday's win over the Chicago Cubs at St. Louis, a planned day off after playing in each of St. Louis' first 27 games. ... St. Louis RHP Carlos Martinez (3-0, 3.64 ERA) will start against Pittsburgh RHP Vance Worley (2-2, 3.90) on Saturday night. Martinez has a 1.29 ERA in his two road starts this season while holding opponents to a .167 batting average. The Pirates have been shut out in both of Worley's losses.