MLB: St. Louis 3, Pittsburgh 2

PITTSBURGH, April 11 (UPI) -- Chris Duncan delivered a ninth-inning pinch-hit home run Wednesday, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Duncan, pinch-hitting for So Taguchi despite Taguchi's 3-for-3 day, broke a 2-2 tie by driving a 2-2 pitch from Salomon Torres (0-1) over the centerfield wall for his second home run of the season.

The homer gave the Cardinals a sweep of the three-game series in Pittsburgh. St. Louis has won five of six games. Pittsburgh has lost five of its last six.

Ryan Franklin (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief for the victory.

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the fourth with a two-out rally that ended with Humberto Cota driving in a run. St. Louis answered with two runs in the fifth. David Eckstein singled in one run and scored the second on a two-out hit by Preston Wilson.

Pittsburgh tied the score at 2-2 in the seventh without getting a hit. Don Kelly was hit by a pitch, Chris Duffy walked and the runners moved up on a bunt before Freddy Sanchez delivered a sacrifice fly.