MLB: St. Louis 14, Pittsburgh 7

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Ryan Ludwick had five of St. Louis's 17 hits and homered twice Friday, helping the Cardinals out-slug Pittsburgh 14-7.

St. Louis blew an early 5-0 lead, but kept the runs coming in what was its sixth win in seven games. The 14 runs were a season high.

Ludwick had an RBI double in the first and hit a solo homer in the third. He also had a hit in the fifth inning, during which St. Louis produced a run that made it 5-0, but the Pirates scored six times in the bottom half of the inning to take the lead.

Albert Pujols put St. Louis back in front with a three-run homer in the sixth and Ludwick contributed a three-run blast in the eighth.

The St. Louis lead over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central grew to 11 1/2 games.

Adam Wainwright (17-7) got the win despite giving up six runs on nine hits in five innings. Kevin Hart (4-5) surrendered the first five St. Louis runs in 5 2/3 innings to take the loss.