Cardinals 6, Pirates 4: Adam Wainwright drove in a career high-tying three runs and pitched six innings to fuel host St. Louis past Pittsburgh.

Wainwright (16-9) allowed four runs and seven hits in a mediocre performance for the Cardinals' ace, although he made up for it with a second-inning RBI groundout and a two-run single in the fourth. Randal Grichuk added three hits while Daniel Descalso and Peter Bourjos each scored twice for St. Louis, which has won four straight and now leads Milwaukee by two games in the National League Central.

Seth Maness followed Wainwright with two scoreless innings and Pat Neshek had no problems in the ninth in notching his fifth save. Pittsburgh's Josh Harrison recorded two more hits to raise his batting average to a league-high .313. but the Pirates fell four games behind St. Louis and sit two games off the pace in the wild-card race.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the fourth, Bourjos broke the deadlock with a single to left against Pittsburgh starter Jeff Locke (6-4) and Wainwright followed with a base hit up the middle. Locke, who had been 4-0 in his previous five starts, gave up five runs, four hits and five walks in three-plus innings.

The Pirates got within a run in the seventh as Starling Marte homered with Ike Davis aboard, ending Wainwright's night. The Cardinals pushed their edge to 6-4 when Jhonny Peralta doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the seventh, and Maness worked around a leadoff double in the eighth to preserve the lead.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Wainwright also had three RBIs against Milwaukee on July 4, 2010. ... Harrison has recorded multiple hits in five of his last six games. ... Pirates INF Pedro Alvarez (foot) missed his sixth consecutive game.