The St. Louis Cardinals win their fourth game in five outings, downing the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.

Chris Duncan had the big hit on the night, belting a two out double in the 3 rd inning to clear the bases. Recently acquired Russell Branyan contributed, as well, hitting his 10 th home run of the season, his first for the Cards.

Redbirds’ starter Joel Pineiro (5-3) pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 8 hits to get the win. Ryan Franklin tossed 1 1/3 perfect innings of relief to earn his first save.

The Cardinals and Pirates play again Wednesday night at Busch. Mark Mulder (0-0) makes his return to the Redbird lineup with his 2007 debut. Tony Armas (2-5) takes the mound for the Bucs.