PITTSBURGH (Interstat) — Alec Burleson hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals held off a late Pittsburgh Pirates rally for a 5-4 victory Wednesday night at PNC Park.

The Cardinals, who improved to 17-13, took two of the first three games of a four-game series. The Pirates fell to 16-15.

St. Louis struck first in the third inning. Ramón Urías walked, moved to second on a Victor Scott II flyout and scored on JJ Wetherholt’s double down the left-field line. The Cardinals added two more in the fifth after Iván Herrera doubled and Burleson drove a 1-0 pitch from Pirates starter Bubba Chandler over the left-center field wall.

Pittsburgh responded in the bottom half when Spencer Horwitz led off with a solo homer to center field, cutting the lead to 3-1. Konnor Griffin followed with a single, but Cardinals starter Andre Pallante retired the next three batters, including a pair of strikeouts.

The Cardinals extended their lead to 5-1 in the seventh. Victor Scott II was hit by a pitch, stole second base and scored on Herrera’s single through the right side. Herrera advanced on a Burleson groundout and came home on Jordan Walker’s two-out single.

Pittsburgh answered in the bottom of the seventh with two runs against the St. Louis bullpen. Griffin walked, Joey Bart singled and Oneil Cruz walked to load the bases. Nick Yorke greeted reliever Ryne Stanek with a two-run single to center field, cutting the deficit to 5-3. Bryan Reynolds then walked to reload the bases, but Ryan O’Hearn struck out and Marcell Ozuna grounded out to end the threat.

The Pirates pulled within a run in the eighth. Nick Gonzales singled and Horwitz walked off reliever JoJo Romero. After Konnor Griffin struck out, pinch-hitter Jake Mangum reached on a fielder’s choice, with Gonzales moving to third and pinch-runner Billy Cook to second on an error by shortstop Masyn Winn. Oneil Cruz grounded into a forceout that scored Gonzales and left runners at the corners. Nick Yorke lined out to right field to preserve the one-run lead.

St. Louis closer Riley O’Brien entered in the ninth and allowed a one-out single to O’Hearn but struck out Ozuna and got Gonzales to fly out for his eighth save of the season.

Pallante (3-2) earned the victory, allowing one run on four hits over five innings. He struck out six and walked one. Chandler (1-3) took the loss after giving up three runs on four hits in five innings, with five strikeouts and three walks.

The Cardinals had six hits, with Herrera totaling two doubles, a single, a walk and two runs scored. Burleson drove in three runs. The Pirates had nine hits, led by Bart’s two singles. O’Hearn and Yorke each had two hits, while Horwitz homered and drove in a run.

Attendance was 9,297. The game lasted 3 hours, 3 minutes.

St. Louis won its third straight contest in the series after taking the first two games Monday and Tuesday. The Cardinals opened the season 17-13, while the Pirates slipped to 16-15.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Pittsburgh 6, St. Louis 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Pirates a 53.30 percent probability to win. Pittsburgh was installed as a pregame favorite at -1.5, and the total of nine runs went under the over/under line of 8.5.