Neil Walker drove in three runs for the second game in a row and Daniel McCutchen threw six scoreless innings to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday at PNC Park.

McCutchen (2-5) lost his spot in the rotation after losing to the Cardinals on July 31, and he entered the game as one of only two pitchers in the majors with at least five starts and no quality starts.

The 27-year-old right-hander made the spot start in place of Jeff Karstens, who was scratched because of arm fatigue. McCutchen made the most of the opportunity, holding the Cardinals to three hits and two walks while striking out five.

Walker gave Pittsburgh the lead with a three-run triple in the third. The rookie second baseman also drove in the go-ahead runs in Tuesday's 4-3 win.

Garrett Jones hit his 19th home run, a solo shot in the eighth, and rookie Jose Tabata added an RBI for the Pirates.

Felipe Lopez hit a solo home run in the seventh and Aaron Miles added an RBI single in the ninth for St. Louis. Albert Pujols went 0-for-4, dropping his average three points to .319 and leaving him sitting on 399 career home runs.

Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook (1-2) allowed four runs on six hits over six innings for the loss.

The win gave the Pirates their first series victory since they took two of three at Colorado from July 28-30.

The Cardinals dropped 3 1/2 games behind NL Central leader Cincinnati, which recorded a 12-11 triumph over San Francisco earlier in the day. The Cardinals and Giants remained one game behind wild-card leader Philadelphia, which lost 3-2 to Houston.