Coverage of tonight's Cards and Cubs game can be heard on Newstalk 97.3 WTIM beginning at 6:35pm.

Pittsburgh,  PA  (SportsNetwork.com) - Allen  Craig and Yadier Molina posted a 
pair of hits to go with an RBI and run scored and the St. Louis Cardinals hung 
on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5, in the finale of a three-game set. 

Trailing by two runs going into the ninth, Pittsburgh got a run back when Neil 
Walker hit a double and Andrew McCutchen singled to plate him and make it 6-5. 

The  Pirates  later loaded the bases  with none away, but Trevor Rosenthal got 
Ike Davis to pop out into foul territory and Jordy Mercer to roll into a 1-2-3 
double play to end the game and give Rosenthal his 10th save of the season. 

"That was beyond impressive what Trevor was able to do there at the end to get 
it  back together.  That's why he is  pitching at the end of games," Cardinals 
manager Mike Matheny said of Rosenthal. 

Shelby  Miller (5-2)  allowed two runs on  four hits and four walks over 5 1/3 
innings for the Cardinals, who avoided being swept. 

Mercer  smacked  a two-run  homer and  a double for  Pittsburgh, which had its 
four-game  winning  streak snapped. Charlie Morton  (0-5) gave up four runs -- 
one earned -- on seven hits and one walk over six innings in defeat. 

The Cardinals raced out to a comfortable lead following a four-run first, but 
Pedro  Alvarez's two-out  RBI single  in  the seventh  trimmed the  Pittsburgh 
deficit to 4-3. 

St.  Louis answered  and  tacked on  a  pair  in the  eighth  to increase  its 
advantage to 6-3. 

Matt  Adams  and Jon Jay posted  one-out singles before Mark Ellis struck out. 
Peter  Bourjos then slapped a base hit into right to bring home Adams, and Jay 
scored on a Bryan Morris wild pitch. 

Davis singled and Mercer doubled to start the home half before Davis scored on 
Tony Sanchez's RBI groundout, which cut the margin to 6-4. 

Earlier,  Craig,  Molina and Ellis  tallied RBI  singles in the opening frame, 
with Adams' sacrifice fly accounting for the other run in the four-run inning. 
Mercer smacked a two-run shot into left in the fourth to trim the gap in half, 
4-2. 

"I  just tried  to get  back out  there  and put  up zeroes  after that  first 
inning," Morton said. 

                                   Game Notes 

The Cardinals were 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position, while Pittsburgh 
finished 2-for-11 with RISP and left 11 men on base ... Mercer's homer was his 
first of the year.