ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Interstat) — Braxton Ashcraft pitched five innings and Esmerlyn Valdez hit a two-run homer as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Sunday at Busch Stadium III.

Ashcraft (14-5) allowed two runs and six hits while striking out three. Mason Montgomery earned his seventh save with a scoreless ninth. Matthew Liberatore (5-13) took the loss, allowing three earned runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts.

Pittsburgh jumped ahead in the second on Valdez’s home run, scored an unearned run in the third and made it 4-0 on Jared Triolo’s homer in the fifth. St. Louis cut the lead in half with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Brandon Lowe’s RBI single in the seventh gave the Pirates a 5-2 lead, and Iván Herrera’s two-run double pulled the Cardinals within one, but Montgomery closed it out.

The Pirates improved to 69-72. The Cardinals fell to 70-72. Attendance was 23,459, and the game lasted 2:53.