PITTSBURGH -AP- Matt Carpenter homered in the second inning to send the St. Louis Cardinals on to an 11-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirateson Friday night.With the Cardinals leading 2-1 and two outs in the second inning, Carpenter homered over the center field wall to extend the lead to 5-1. It was the second of three St. Louis home runs in the first three innings.The Cardinals, whose lead reached 11-3 in the eighth inning, have taken the first two games of a four-game series against the Pirates to remain 1 1/2 games behind the National League Central-leading Chicago Cubs. 
St. Louis has won 10 of their past 13 games despite losing three straight from Aug. 13-16. It has scored at least eight runs in eight of those 10 wins.Right-hander Carlos Martinez (10-9) allowed three runs and six hits with four strikeouts for the win. Right-hander Seung Hwan Oh picked up his 19th save.The Cardinals survived a late Pirates push.Max Moroff hit a two-run home run, Pittsburgh's third of the game, 420 feet into the Allegheny River on a bounce beyond the right field wall to make it 11-5 in the eighth. Josh Bell hit an RBI double and Elias Diazdrove in two runs with a double to cut the deficit to 11-8 later in the inning.Pittsburgh scored two more in the ninth, but left the bases loaded.The Pirates' losing streak reached six games. They are 6 1/2 games behind the Cubs.Tommy Pham homered in the first inning to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead and Paul DeJong made it 6-2 with a solo shot in the third. St. Louis scored two runs in the fourth inning to take an 8-2 lead and chase Pirates starter Trevor Williams.Williams (5-6) lasted three innings while allowing eight runs, three home runs and seven hits with three strikeouts.Starling Marte hit an RBI triple to cut the Cardinals' lead to 8-3 in the fifth inning.DeJong, who was 3 for 5 with two RBI, drove in Martinez with a single and Dexter Fowler followed with an RBI double to push the lead out to 10-3 in the top of the sixth and Jose Martinez extended it to 11-3 with a single in the eighth.Josh Harrison tied it 1-1 in the first inning with his second home run in the past two days. His 14 home runs are a career high, topping his 13 from 2014. David Freese led off the bottom of the second with a home run to cut Pittsburgh's deficit to 5-2.
St. Louis has won 10 of their past 13 games despite losing three straight from Aug. 13-16. It has scored at least eight runs in eight of those 10 wins.Right-hander Carlos Martinez (10-9) allowed three runs and six hits with four strikeouts for the win. Right-hander Seung Hwan Oh picked up his 19th save.The Cardinals survived a late Pirates push.Max Moroff hit a two-run home run, Pittsburgh's third of the game, 420 feet into the Allegheny River on a bounce beyond the right field wall to make it 11-5 in the eighth. Josh Bell hit an RBI double and Elias Diazdrove in two runs with a double to cut the deficit to 11-8 later in the inning.Pittsburgh scored two more in the ninth, but left the bases loaded.The Pirates' losing streak reached six games. They are 6 1/2 games behind the Cubs.Tommy Pham homered in the first inning to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead and Paul DeJong made it 6-2 with a solo shot in the third. St. Louis scored two runs in the fourth inning to take an 8-2 lead and chase Pirates starter Trevor Williams.Williams (5-6) lasted three innings while allowing eight runs, three home runs and seven hits with three strikeouts.Starling Marte hit an RBI triple to cut the Cardinals' lead to 8-3 in the fifth inning.DeJong, who was 3 for 5 with two RBI, drove in Martinez with a single and Dexter Fowler followed with an RBI double to push the lead out to 10-3 in the top of the sixth and Jose Martinez extended it to 11-3 with a single in the eighth.Josh Harrison tied it 1-1 in the first inning with his second home run in the past two days. His 14 home runs are a career high, topping his 13 from 2014. David Freese led off the bottom of the second with a home run to cut Pittsburgh's deficit to 5-2.
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