Cards move back over .500

Their 6-2 win over the Pirates helped them stay close to Chicago.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Chris Duncan hit a three-run double to back Joel Pineiro and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 Tuesday night.

The Cardinals moved back over .500 with the win. They started the day two games behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

Russell Branyan homered in his first start since being acquired from the Phillies four days earlier. Not known as a great fielder, he also made three nice plays at third base, each time on well-hit grounders by Josh Pearce. Rick Ankiel and Jim Edmonds had an RBI apiece in the first inning for the Cardinals, who have won five of six.

Matt Morris (8-9) struggled in his second start in St. Louis as a visiting player. Morris, whose 101 wins rank 10th on the Cardinals’ career list, lasted five innings and gave up five runs and five hits.

Pineiro (4-2), who wears 35 like Morris used to, pitched 52⁄3 innings, allowing two runs and eight hits. He quieted the Pirates, who had scored 31 runs in winning three in a row over the Cardinals.

Ryan Franklin got four outs for his first career save.

Slumping

Nyjer Morgan and Jose Bautista each drove in a run in the third for the Pirates, who have lost six of seven. Jack Wilson singled twice, giving him six hits the last two games.

David Eckstein and Ankiel doubled to open the bottom of the first, and Ankiel eventually scored on Edmonds’ sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead. The Pirates bunched three hits and a walk in the third, with Morgan getting a run-scoring groundout and Bautista hitting an RBI double to tie it at 2.

The Cardinals loaded the bases in the third on Eckstein’s single and walks to Ankiel and Edmonds. Duncan, who had been 0-for-13, cleared them with an opposite-field drive into the left-field corner.

Branyan hit his 10th homer off Franquelis Osoria, connecting for his third team this season, in the sixth for a 6-2 cushion. He hit seven for the Padres and two for the Phillies, and is 4-for-11 for his career at Busch Stadium.

The Pirates had the bases loaded with two outs in the eighth before pinch hitter Nate McLouth broke his bat on an infield popup to second base. Miguel Cairo spread his legs apart after the catch to avoid the shattered bat.

Notes

A runaway squirrel entertained a sellout crowd during the early innings, emerging from the Cardinals’ bullpen and wandering the warning track. Stadium personnel captured it in a barrel near the Pirates’ dugout, the squirrel quickly jumped out into the stands, and was eventually caught again and then released outside the stadium.