Braden Looper baffles the Pirates as St. Louis Cardinals earn win

Jose Bautista hit Pittsburgh’s first homer in 41 innings.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Last year, Braden Looper was a setup man and Yadier Molina batted .216.

The St. Louis Cardinals’ best starter and their newest offensive threat helped complete a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Looper won for the third time in four outings and Molina extended his hitting streak to 15 games and had two RBIs in a 3-1 victory Thursday. Looper was tied for the NL lead with six victories, while Molina’s average climbed to .304.

The catcher, one of the team’s surprise hitting standouts in the postseason, is batting .396 (17-for-48) during his streak. It’s the team’s longest since Albert Pujols had a 17-game run in 2005.

“I’m just trying to swing at good pitches,” Molina said. “If I wait for my pitch and make a good swing, the results are going to be better.”

Looper (6-3) is the de facto ace for a team missing Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder. He rebounded from a shaky start in Detroit, one of only two clunkers in his first 10 starts.

“That fifth day comes around a little faster than I thought it would,” Looper said. “For the most part you try to forget about it, go to work and get everything done.”

Daylight

Both of the Cardinals’ sweeps this season have come against the Pirates, the other on the road in April. Before the series, the defending World Series champions had lost five in a row and were nine games below .500.

“I see a lot more smiles on guys’ faces and music in the locker room,” closer Jason Isringhausen said.

Jose Bautista’s homer ended a 41-inning long ball drought for the Pirates, who have lost five in a row and seven of nine. Pittsburgh was 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and two outs in the series.

Looper allowed only two other hits in six innings. He had thrown 212⁄3 consecutive scoreless innings against the Pirates before Bautista’s homer, a ball he referred to as “wind-blown,” and is 5-0 with a 1.41 ERA in five-day starts.

Pirates starter Tom Gorzelanny (5-3) bruised his left thumb deflecting Aaron Miles’ smash up the middle with one out in the sixth, an infield hit that loaded the bases. Gorzelanny was removed from the game after 118 pitches. X-rays were negative and the left-hander is not expected to miss a turn in the rotation.

“I guess you could say it was scary, but I’m fine,” Gorzelanny said. “It’s just a pretty bad bruise.”

Gorzelanny, who limited the Cardinals to one run in 151⁄3 innings in two April starts, gave up two runs on 10 hits. He failed to finish six innings for only the fourth time in his last 18 starts.