Taillon shuts down Cards to lift struggling Pirates, 4-0

Jameson Taillon pitched three-hit ball over eight innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 on Friday night for their second win in their past seven games.

Pittsburgh had lost three straight to St. Louis during a 3-10 stretch, mostly against NL Central opponents.

Taillon (3-4) hadn't won since April 8, when he one-hit the Cincinnati Reds in a 5-0 win. He was nearly as good this time against St. Louis, striking out six and walking one to slim his ERA to 3.97.

St. Louis has dropped three of five. Miles Mikolas (6-1) gave up two runs - one earned - in six innings. He allowed six hits, struck out two and walked one. This was his first loss since returning to the U.S. following a stint in the Japanese professional league.

Adam Frazier doubled in the third and tripled in the fifth before scoring Pittsburgh's first two runs. His double ricocheted off Mikolas' left foot and bounced into shallow left field. He scored on Josh Bell's sacrifice fly.

Francisco Cervelli followed Frazier's triple with his own to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.

Pittsburgh tacked on two more runs in the eighth on an RBI double by Corey Dickerson and a sacrifice fly from Colin Moran.

Marcell Ozuna had two of the three hits off Taillon, both infield singles. Dexter Fowler also had a single.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Pirates: IF Jung Ho Kang played his first U.S. game in more than a year with Class A Bradenton. Kang, 31, is currently on the Major League Baseball's restricted list after missing the 2017 season following his third DUI arrest in his native South Korea in December 2016. Kang was not permitted to enter the U.S. until he was issued a work visa in late April. He went 0 for 3 with two walks and two strikeouts.

Cardinals: C Yadier Molina is scheduled to make rehab starts for Double-A Springfield on Saturday and Sunday. He expects to return to the Cardinals for their Tuesday game with Milwaukee. Molina suffered a pelvic injury with a traumatic hematoma on May 5 that required emergency surgery.

UP NEXT:

Pirates RHP Chad Kuhl (4-3, 3.94) will face Cardinals RHP Luke Weaver (3-5, 4.63) Saturday in the third game of a four-game set. Kuhl is looking for his first win since May 6. He lost his last outing, which followed three consecutive no decisions. Weaver has dropped three straight decisions and four of his past five.