(AP) -- Pedro Alvarez homered twice and drove in four runs, James McDonald scattered two hits over seven innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beats the St. Louis Cardinals 9-0 on Tuesday night.
Alvarez hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Pirates a comfortable lead, added an RBI double in the fourth then hit a 469-foot blast to center in the sixth.
He went 4 for 5 as Pittsburgh drew within two games of the Cardinals in the race for the NL's second wild-card spot.
McDonald (12-6) gave up two hits, walked one and struck out six to beat the Cardinals and Jake Westbrook (13-10) for the second time in the last two weeks.
The Cardinals played most of the game without catcher Yadier Molina, who suffered neck, back and shoulder injuries following a violent collision at home plate with Pittsburgh second baseman Josh Harrison.
Harrison was attempting to score from second base on a single to right field by Jose Tabata in the bottom of the second when he slammed into Molina.
Harrison's left shoulder caught Molina high and the four-time All Star catcher fell over backward, holding onto the ball.
Molina remained on the ground for several minutes before slowly getting to his feet and walking to the dugout. He was replaced by Tony Cruz.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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