PITTSBURGH (Interstat) — JJ Wetherholt led off with a home run against Pirates ace Paul Skenes, and the St. Louis Cardinals finished off a four-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 10-5 win Thursday afternoon.

The Cardinals jumped on Skenes early, scoring three runs in the first inning. Wetherholt hit his seventh homer of the season on a fly ball to right field. After Iván Herrera singled, Jordan Walker followed with a two-run homer to left field, his ninth, putting St. Louis ahead 3-0.

Skenes, last season’s National League Cy Young Award winner, settled down briefly but never found his rhythm. He struck out nine over five innings but allowed eight hits and four earned runs, falling to 0-5 in his career against St. Louis. The 23-year-old had allowed only three runs over his previous five starts combined; the Cardinals matched that in the first inning alone.

St. Louis added a run in the third inning. Alec Burleson reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error by shortstop Konnor Griffin. Nolan Gorman then lined an RBI single to right field, making it 4-0.

The Pirates got on the board in the fourth inning. Bryan Reynolds led off with a double, and after walks to Ryan O’Hearn and Nick Gonzales, Spencer Horwitz walked to force in a run, cutting the lead to 4-1.

St. Louis answered in the fifth. Wetherholt singled, and after a strikeout, Burleson lined an RBI single to left, scoring Wetherholt and restoring a four-run lead at 5-1.

Pittsburgh rallied in the bottom of the fifth. Jake Mangum walked, and after a strikeout, Oneil Cruz walked. Brandon Lowe flew out to center, but Reynolds followed with a two-run double to left, scoring Mangum and Cruz and pulling the Pirates within 5-3.

The game remained 5-3 until the seventh, when Brandon Lowe homered to right field, his eighth, trimming the Cardinals’ lead to 5-4. The Pirates had the tying run on base after Bryan Reynolds walked, but Ryan O’Hearn struck out to end the inning.

The decisive moment came in the eighth inning. St. Louis erupted for five runs, breaking the game open. Gorman led off with a single, and Masyn Winn followed with a single. Nathan Church doubled to center, scoring both runners to make it 7-4. After a flyout and a walk to Victor Scott II, Wetherholt lined out, but the Cardinals kept the line moving. Herrera walked to load the bases, and Burleson cleared them with a two-run single to right. Walker added an RBI single, and the lead swelled to 10-4.

Pittsburgh scored once more in the ninth when Oneil Cruz singled and scored on a double by Brandon Lowe, but the rally fell short.

Gordon Graceffo earned the win, pitching one and one-third scoreless innings with one strikeout. Hunter Dobbins started for St. Louis and went four and one-third innings, allowing three earned runs on two hits with four strikeouts.

For St. Louis, Burleson finished three for five with three RBIs. Walker went two for five with a homer and three RBIs. Wetherholt had two hits in four at-bats with a homer and an RBI. The Cardinals collected fourteen hits overall.

For Pittsburgh, Reynolds had two hits in four at-bats with two RBIs. Lowe went two for five with a homer and an RBI. The Pirates managed seven hits.

The win improved St. Louis’s record to 18-13. Pittsburgh fell to 16-16, extending its losing streak to five games. The Cardinals swept the four-game series in Pittsburgh, winning all three previous games: 4-2 on Monday, 11-7 on Tuesday, and 5-4 on Wednesday.

St. Louis returns home to host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. Pittsburgh opens a three-game series at home against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 3. Interstat’s ELO system had given Pittsburgh a 53.30 percent probability to win. Pittsburgh was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total combined score of 15 went under the over-under line of 7.5.