(AP) -- Pedro Alvarez stayed hot, blasting his 26th homer of the season and driving in three runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates rolled to a 5-0 victory over St. Louis on Wednesday night.
The third baseman - who hit two homers on Tuesday - continued his season-long dominance of the Cardinals.
His three-run shot in the third gave him seven home runs and 23 RBI in 15 games against St. Louis this year as Pittsburgh moved within one game of the NL's second wild card spot.
Wandy Rodriguez (9-13) worked six tidy innings for Pittsburgh to pick up his first victory as a starter since being acquired in a trade last month.
Rodriguez walked three and struck out three while helping the Pirates shut out the Cardinals for the second straight night.
Joe Kelly (4-6) battled control problems during five rocky innings, giving up five runs on eight hits.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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