Rookie left-hander Quinn Mathews pitched effectively into the sixth inning for his first major league victory, and Jimmy Crooks hit a two-run home run for the St. Louis Cardinals, who beat the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 on Friday night.
Jordan Walker added three hits and scored twice for the Cardinals, who had lost five of six coming in but remain fringe contenders in the National League wild-card hunt. St. Louis began the day five games behind the San Diego Padres for the final postseason spot. The Pirates began seven games behind.
Mathews (1-2) allowed a run, five hits and a walk, striking out seven over 5 2/3 innings in his fourth career start.
A consensus top-50 overall prospect in the preseason, Mathews was promoted from Triple-A for his debut Aug. 1. He had OK results in his first two appearances before being tagged for seven runs and 10 hits in five innings in his previous start against the Philadelphia Phillies a week ago Saturday.
After Nolan Gorman hit a one-out double and reached third base on an error by outfielder Oneil Cruz in the third, Crooks hit a 416-foot homer to right field against right-hander Jared Jones for a 2-0 lead.
It was the fifth homer for Crooks, who came in batting .171 and had not gone deep since Aug. 3.
Nathan Church added a sacrifice fly in the fourth.
Jones (2-6) allowed three runs, seven hits and a walk to go with six strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings. He dropped his fifth straight decision.
Jared Triolo lined an RBI single in the fourth to bring the Pirates within 3-1, and they put runners at second and third with two outs before Esmerling Valdez struck out.
The Cardinals caught a break when the Pirates tried to rally with two outs in the eighth. Righty Ryan Fernandez retired his first six batters in relief, but he walked Bryan Reynolds and the Cardinals brought in left-hander Caleb Ferguson to face Cruz.
Cruz hit a liner about 105 mph, but the ball hit Reynolds in the leg on the way to right field for the third out. Cruz was credited with a single, but the inning was over.
The Pirates’ third error of the game, on a wild throw by shortstop Jacob Gonzalez, allowed Walker to score an insurance run in the eighth.
With closer Riley O’Brien unavailable, right-hander Ryne Stanek pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.
The Pirates, who are 10-15 in August, have scored five runs in the past four games.