Pirates start fast against Lynn, defeat Cardinals

Pirates 10, Cardinals 5

Pittsburgh scored seven runs in the first inning against Lance Lynn, four of which were unearned, and three more in the ninth against Seth Maness to record its first win of the season over the St. Louis Cardinals in six games at Busch Stadium. Francisco Liriano (8-6) pitched six innings for the victory and Pedro Alvarez whacked a two-run homer in the monster first that saw the Pirates hit for the cycle.

By the numbers

Despite the loss, the Cardinals (73-41) still lead the second-place Pirates (66-46) by six games in the NL Central. ... Lynn's two-thirds-of-an-inning outing was the shortest of his career, and the big right-hander fell to 9-7 this season. ... Pittsburgh banged out 13 hits against five pitchers, with 11 of the hits coming in the first and ninth innings. ... Matt Carpenter, Jhonny Peralta and Jason Heyward collected two hits apiece for St. Louis.

Up next

Jaime Garcia (4-4, 1.77 ERA) vs. Tom Koehler (8-9, 3.75 ERA), 7:15 p.m. Friday in opener of three-game series vs. Miami.

This story was originally published August 13, 2015 at 9:24 PM with the headline "Pirates start fast against Lynn, defeat Cardinals."