Sonny Gray stars as the Cardinals beat the moving Pirates

ST. LOUIS (AP)– Sonny Gray pitched 7 innings of two-hit ball, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the dropping Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 on Wednesday for their fifth straight victory.Gray (4-1)struck out eight and walked one in his very first win since April 14. The right-hander went 0-1 with a 5.51 ERA in his previous 3 starts.Advertisement The Cardinals returned to.500 at 19-19, including a 15-6 record at

home. They are 4-2 versus the Pirates this year after finishing a three-game sweep.Masyn Winn hit two RBI doubles. Lars Nootbaar had 3 hits, and Victor Scott II scored all the way from very first twice.The Pirates (12-26) were locked out for the 8th time. They have actually lost 7 in a row and 10 of 11 overall.St. Louis leapt in front with 2 runs in the

third versus Mitch Keller( 1-4). Scott strolled and scored on Nootbaar’s hit-and-run single to right. Winn included a bloop RBI double.Scott extended his hitting streak to a career-high eight games when he hit a leadoff single in the fifth. He scored on Winn’s one-out double.Advertisement Jordan Walker included a two-run single in the eighth.Keller allowed 7 hits in six-plus innings. He set out six and walked three.The Pirates completed with four hits.Nolan Arenado was scratched from the St. Louis lineup with back spasms.Key minute The Pirates put runners on the corners with one out in the eighth.

However Kyle Leahy started out Bryan Reynolds and retired Andrew McCutchen on a bouncer to second.Key stat Oneil Cruz, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Reynolds each struck out

twice for Pittsburgh.Up next The Pirates return home for three games versus the Braves beginning on Friday. The Cardinals start a nine-game trip at Washington on Friday night. RHP Erick Fedde (2-3, 4.78 AGE)starts the series opener against the Nationals. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb