Nolan Arenado fuels Cardinals past Pirates

Nolan Arenado went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and the host St. Louis Cardinals held on for a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.

Dylan Carlson, Masyn Winn and Brendan Donovan added one RBI apiece for St. Louis. The Cardinals evened the series at one win apiece with the rubber match set for Thursday afternoon.

Henry Davis hit a solo homer for Pittsburgh. Michael A. Taylor drove in the Pirates' other run.

Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray (8-4) held the Pirates to one run on four hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out nine.

Pirates left-hander Bailey Falter (3-4) allowed three runs on eight hits in four innings. He walked one and struck out five.

Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his 22nd save.

The Cardinals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-out single to right field and scored moments later on a double to left by Arenado.

In the fourth, St. Louis added two more runs to increase its lead to 3-0. Carlson drove in a run with an infield single, and Winn made it a three-run cushion with an RBI groundout to third base.

Pittsburgh got on the board in the top of the fifth. Taylor singled to center to drive in Nick Gonzales, who led off the inning with a double to left.

The Cardinals made it 4-1 in the bottom of the fifth when Donovan hit an RBI single to left. Arenado scored from second base.

Davis cut the Pirates' deficit to 4-2 with a solo shot to lead off the top of the eighth. It was his first homer in 28 games this season and the eighth homer of his career.

Ivan Herrera finished with three hits in four at-bats for the Cardinals.

Oneil Cruz was the only Pirates hitter to finish with multiple hits. He went 2-for-4 with a double.

--Field Level Media