Locke sharp as Pirates slay Cards

Published April 28, 2013

Sports Network

St. Louis, MO –  Russell Martin hit two of Pittsburgh's four home runs to back a second straight solid outing from Jeff Locke.

The Pirates left-hander held St. Louis to three singles over seven scoreless innings, as Pittsburgh beat the Cardinals, 9-0, in the rubber match of a three-game set at Busch Stadium.

Locke (3-1) picked up from where he left off in his previous starting assignment. He gave up only two hits in six frames of Tuesday's 2-0 win at Philadelphia.

Jose Tabata and Garrett Jones each launched solo homers for the Pirates, who improved to 14-5 in their last 19 games.

Shelby Miller (3-2) had seven strikeouts but surrendered three runs on seven hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings for St. Louis, which lost its first series since dropping two of three to Arizona to begin the season.

Martin belted a solo shot to open the scoring in the second and his two-run blast capped a five-run ninth that included a two-run single by Pedro Alvarez.

Tabata took Miller deep with two outs in the fifth, and John McDonald greeted St. Louis reliever Fernando Salas in the next frame with a double that scored Brandon Inge.

Jones homered off Salas with two gone in the seventh.

Game Notes

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle picked up his 700th career win ... The Pirates have won 15 games in the first month of the season for the first time since 1992 ... Martin and Jones each had three hits.

View the original article here