Pirates ground fading Cardinals

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The Pittsburgh Pirates wish they’d played and pitched this way all season. The St. Louis Cardinals wish they were pitching and playing now the way they did most of the season.

Paul Maholm became the latest slumping pitcher to shut down the fast-fading Cardinals, pitching effectively over seven innings, and the Pirates won their season-high fourth in a row 5-2 on Tuesday night.

The Pirates remain two losses way from their first 100-loss season since 2001, but are 4-0 on a homestand that began with a three-game sweep of Arizona. Pittsburgh hadn’t won that many in a row since a five-game run from Aug. 17-22, 2009, against the Brewers and Reds.

“The staff has settled in a little bit, guys are playing hard, and they still have goals in mind they’d like to accomplish,” manager John Russell said. “It’s good they’re not just looking forward to that last day in Florida and in heading off to the offseason. They’re still playing hard and still competing.”

For the Cardinals, elimination is near. Their 24th loss in 36 games and Cincinnati’s 4-3 win over Milwaukee dropped their magic number for elimination in the NL Central to four.