ST. LOUIS -- First baseman Matt Adams played the role of hero for the St. Louis Cardinals Friday night.

His bases-loaded RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted St. Louis to a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in Busch Stadium.

Center fielder Jon Jay started the two-out rally with a single off reliever Rob Scahill (0-2). Third baseman Matt Carpenter doubled down the right-field line, and left fielder Matt Holliday was intentionally walked, setting the stage for Adams.

Reliever Randy Choate (1-0) earned the win, fanning right fielder Gregory Polanco with runners on the corners to end the top of the 10th.

The Cardinals improved their major league-best record to 16-6, while the Pirates (12-11) fell to 4-3 on their nine-game road trip.

Neither starting pitcher was around for the decision despite pitching well enough to win. Pittsburgh's A.J. Burnett worked six shutout innings, allowing only two hits and three walks while fanning seven. His sixth-inning strikeout of Holliday was the 2,397th of his career, passing Sandy Koufax for 42nd on the all-time list.

St. Louis' Lance Lynn gave up just four hits and a run over seven innings, walking one and whiffing 10.

Lynn's only trouble spot came in the sixth, when Burnett helped himself to a 1-0 lead by grounding a single through a drawn-in infield that scored catcher Francisco Cervelli. But Lynn extricated himself from a bases-loaded, no-out jam with a popup and two strikeouts.

The Cardinals tied it against four relievers in the seventh, as pinch-hitter Mark Reynolds collected a two-out infield hit on an 0-2 pitch from Jared Hughes to plate shortstop Jhonny Peralta.

Earlier in the inning, Peralta appeared to be doubled up on catcher Yadier Molina's looping liner to shortstop Jordy Mercer, but a replay review reversed the call of second base umpire Mark Wegner.

This one was all about dominant pitching early. Lynn and Burnett were at the top of their games, dismissing hitters with multiple pitches and in an efficient manner.

Lynn faced the minimum through five innings, permitting only a leadoff single by Polanco in the fourth that he quickly erased when third baseman Josh Harrison grounded into a double play.

Burnett gave up just two hits, including an infield single by Jay to lead off the bottom of the first. Catcher Cervelli provided help, nabbing Jay and second baseman Kolten Wong on steal attempts in the first three innings.

NOTES: St. Louis purchased RHP Miguel Socolovich from Triple-A Memphis on Friday and optioned Thursday's starting pitcher, LHP Tim Cooney, to Memphis. Socolovich worked 12 2/3 scoreless innings in seven appearances for Memphis. ... Pittsburgh OF Andrew McCutchen became the 33rd player in franchise history to collect 1,000 hits with the club on Wednesday night at the Chicago Cubs. Prior to McCutchen, the last Pirate to reach 1,000 hits was SS Jack Wilson (2007). ... The Cardinals moved OF Tommy Pham (left quadriceps) to the 60-day disabled list. Pham was injured during spring training after getting off to a strong start.