PITTSBURGH (Interstat) — Nolan Gorman homered and drove in three runs, Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker each drove in three runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7 on Tuesday night at PNC Park.

The Cardinals won their second straight game to improve to 16-13, while the Pirates fell to 16-14. St. Louis took the first two games of the three-game series after Monday’s 4-2 victory.

Kyle Leahy (3-3) earned the win, allowing three runs on nine hits over 5⅓ innings while striking out seven. Braxton Ashcraft (1-2) took the loss, surrendering five runs on six hits in 4⅔ innings.

The Cardinals jumped ahead early. Gorman led off the second inning with his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to right field. Victor Scott II added a solo homer in the third, his first of the year, and JJ Wetherholt doubled and scored on a single by Walker to make it 3-0.

St. Louis broke the game open in the fifth inning. Wetherholt walked, Ivan Herrera walked, and Burleson doubled to left-center, scoring Wetherholt and sending Herrera to third. Walker followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Herrera, and Gorman added another sacrifice fly to center, scoring Burleson. The three-run inning pushed the lead to 6-0.

Pittsburgh answered in the sixth. Oneil Cruz led off with a solo homer to center, his ninth. After a lineout, Bryan Reynolds singled, and Ryan O’Hearn crushed a two-run homer to right-center, cutting the deficit to 6-3. But the Cardinals quickly responded.

In the seventh, Herrera walked, Burleson walked, and Walker singled to center, scoring Herrera. Gorman grounded out, scoring Burleson, and Masyn Winn singled to right, scoring Walker. Nathan Church then singled and advanced to second on a fielding error by O’Hearn, but the inning ended with the Cardinals leading 9-3.

St. Louis added two more in the eighth. Wetherholt was hit by a pitch, Herrera doubled, and Burleson doubled to right, scoring both runners to make it 11-3.

Pittsburgh mounted a rally in the bottom of the eighth. Cruz singled, Nick Yorke struck out, but Reynolds walked. O’Hearn singled to right, scoring Cruz, and Nick Gonzales singled to center, scoring Reynolds and O’Hearn to make it 11-6. Spencer Horwitz grounded into a double play to end the threat.

In the ninth, Konnor Griffin led off with a solo homer to right-center, his second, but the Pirates could get no closer. Jake Mangum struck out, Marcell Ozuna struck out, and Cruz struck out on a foul tip to end the game.

The most important part of the game was the Cardinals’ five-run outburst in the fifth and seventh innings that answered every Pirates challenge. After Pittsburgh cut the lead to 6-3 in the sixth, St. Louis immediately restored a six-run cushion with three runs in the seventh, turning a tight game into a blowout. The Cardinals’ ability to manufacture runs with sacrifice flies and timely hitting proved decisive.

St. Louis outhit Pittsburgh 12-13, but the Pirates grounded into four double plays and left runners in scoring position. The Cardinals executed two sacrifice flies. St. Louis pitchers combined for 17 strikes, 55 balls and 17 balls in play, while Pittsburgh pitchers had 10 strikes, 42 balls and 10 balls in play.

Gorman finished 1 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs. Burleson went 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Walker also had two hits and three RBIs. Wetherholt and Herrera each scored three runs. For the Pirates, O’Hearn was 2 for 4 with a homer and three RBIs, Gonzales had two hits and two RBIs, and Cruz and Griffin each homered.

Attendance was 8,758, and the game lasted 2 hours, 41 minutes.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Pittsburgh 6, St. Louis 5. Interstat’s ELO system had given Pittsburgh a 54.20 percent probability to win. Pittsburgh had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1½ runs. The total score of 18 went under the over/under line of 8.