Cardinals secure first series win of month of June

ST. LOUIS (KMIZ)

The St. Louis Cardinals' drought without a series win has ended. The Redbirds won Thursday's rubber match with the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 to clinch their first series victory since May 29.

After Thursday's win, the Cardinals now narrowly sit in second place in the National League Central Division, trailing only the Milwaukee Brewers for the lead in the standings by 6.5 games. Oliver Marmol's crew is also now just one game below the .500-mark with a 33-34 overall record.

St. Louis built a 3-0 lead in the first four innings of action with a two-run shot from Paul Goldschmidt, his eighth home run of the season, and an RBI single from Pedro Pages. The Pirates responded with three runs in the fifth inning to tie the game, but Brendan Donovan blasted his fifth home run of the year to score the go-ahead run just one frame later.

The Redbirds tallied eight total hits in the game, including two multi-hit performances from Masyn Winn and Jose Fermin.

Lance Lynn only managed to pitch 4.1 innings in Thursday's start, giving up four hits, three earned runs and three walks while recording five strikeouts. However, the St. Louis bullpen silenced Pittsburgh's bats in relief of Lynn, combining to throw 4.2 shutout innings with only three hits allowed and four strikeouts.

Up next - the Cardinals are traveling to Chicago for a three-game weekend series against the Cubs. The latest chapter of that storied MLB rivalry begins on Friday, June 14 at 1:20 p.m. at Wrigley Field.