ST. LOUIS -- To earn his 16th win, Adam Wainwright really needed his bat. Wainwright matched his career best with three RBIs, an unexpected boost that helped carry the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. "Theres usually two or three games a year that you swing the outcome if you can provide something offensively," Wainwright said. "I just made a couple of good swings." The bottom of the order was the difference in the fourth win in a row for the NL Central leaders. Eighth-place hitter Peter Bourjos singled twice with an RBI, and seventh-place hitter Daniel Descalso walked twice and scored twice. Randal Grichuk added three hits and made a nice diving catch in right field to rob Starling Marte of a go-ahead extra-base hit. "I feel like were really ready to take off," Bourjos said. "Were getting contributions from everybody." Wainwright (16-9) prevailed despite allowing three home runs to match his career worst. He left after Starling Martes two-run shot shaved the lead to 5-4 with none out in the seventh. It was the first time he had allowed more than one homer all season. He has been getting by with less than his best stuff for a while, and like most of his recent starts, he believes he is close. "You can look at the three balls in the middle of the plate that got hit out, but I think most of the time I was much better than I have been," Wainwright said. "Thats what we see too," manager Mike Matheny said. "I think hes off just a hair sometimes." Russell Martin and Jordy Mercer homered with the bases empty for the Pirates, who have lost three in a row and were frustrated to get beaten by Wainwrights bat. He doubled his season RBI total and is batting .203 overall. "We treat him like a hitter," Martin said. "He gave some up but he took some back and thats just the type of competitor he is. "He was one of the toughest outs." Despite the damage, Wainwright didnt face any batters with runners in scoring position. He lost his previous two outings, the last at Pittsburgh when he allowed three runs in six innings. Wainwright had thrown 28 1-3 consecutive scoreless innings at home against Pittsburgh before Martin homered in the second. The first four Cardinals reached base in a three-run fourth that snapped a 2-all tie. Wainwrights two-run single chased Jeff Locke (6-4), who walked five and was charged with five runs -- four earned. Wainwright also had a run-scoring groundout in the second and matched a three-RBI game he had against the Brewers on July 4, 2010, in which he also threw a complete game in a 7-1 win. Locke allowed a run in 7 1-3 innings with two walks against the Cardinals his last time out. He worked around a season-worst six walks to win at Milwaukee on Aug. 22 and was 4-0 with a 2.90 ERA in five August starts. "I just didnt have any command, fell behind everybody," Locke said. "They were really in the drivers seat the whole time." Jhonny Peralta doubled to start the seventh and scored on a wild pitch by John Axford that put St. Louis up 6-4. Trevor Rosenthal got a day off, and Pat Neshek finished for his fifth save in eight chances. TRAINERS ROOM Pirates: Pedro Alvarez missed his sixth straight game with left foot discomfort. Charlie Morton (hip) threw 76 pitches in a four-inning simulated game earlier Tuesday and could join the bullpen soon. Cardinals: Kolten Wong didnt start for the second straight game after banging his head making a catch. He pinch-hit in both games, and his homer tied it on Monday. UP NEXT Pirates: Edinson Volquez (11-7, 3.45) has won seven of his last eight decisions. He is 4-6 with a 5.06 ERA in 14 career starts against the Cardinals. Cardinals: St. Louis seeks a sweep behind Shelby Miller (8-9, 4.19). The right-hander is 2-6 with a 4.98 ERA against Pittsburgh, including 2-2 this year. TEMPER, TEMPER Cardinals 3B coach Jose Oquendo was ejected at the end of the third inning, apparently for arguing balls and strikes with home plate umpire James Hoye. Cincinnati Reds Shirts . - For a general manager who preaches building through the draft, Reggie McKenzie has struggled to find impact players his first two years in Oakland. Wholesale Reds Jerseys .Ryan Anderson had 14 points for the Pelicans, who trailed 78-63 after three periods before trimming the deficit to 86-83. Jrue Holiday had 13 points and Eric Gordon added 12 for New Orleans.Mike Scott and Jeff Teague each had 11 points for Atlanta. https://www.cheapredsjerseys.us/. The Wild, playing their first game since leading scorer Mikko Koivu broke his ankle Saturday at Washington, have won three straight for the first time since Nov. 1-5. Koivu underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss at least four weeks. Reds Jerseys 2019 .com) - St. Louis Blues right wing Vladimir Tarasenko, Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk and Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury have been selected as the NHLs top players for last week. Cincinnati Reds Store .Connor Graham, Alex Lintuniemi and Sam Studnicka also scored for Ottawa (11-8-2). Liam Herbst made 21 saves for the win.Brendan Lemieux had both of Barries (10-10-2) goals.SOFIA, Bulgaria - Dominika Cibulkova, Carla Suarez Navarro and Flavia Pennetta were straight-sets winners at the start of the season-ending WTA Tournament of Champions on Tuesday.Second-seeded Cibulkova of Slovakia defeated eight-seeded Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-3, 7-6 (6) in round robin play in the Sredets group.Cibulkova was down 3-2 in the first set but won the next four straight games and the set. Pironkova tried to come back in the second by going up two breaks at 4-1, but the Slovak hit back and won 12 of the next 13 points with the set eventually being decided in a tie-break.Cibulkova said she was happy with her game because of the right tactics, but added that everyone who is here is a good player, so I just have to keep doing the right thing to keep winning.In the groups other match, Spains Suarez Navarro overcame fourth-seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany 6-0, 6-4. The Sppanish star needed just 30 minutes to take the first set without surrendering a game mostly thanks to her outstanding one-handed backhand.dddddddddddd In the second, she broke twice for a 5-2 lead before Petkovic rallied for a comeback, getting to 5-4, but Suarez Navarro served out to seal the set at 6-4.The first match is never easy, and Im happy with my performance, Suarez Navarro said. I hope to have a good week.Suarez Navarros win was her 50th WTA match win of the year, making her only the third player in 2014 to reach that mark after Ana Ivanovic (58 wins) and Serena Williams (52).In the Serdika group opener, Italys Pennetta, seeded third, eased to a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Frances Alize Cornet, who had to take a medical time-out because of an injured finger.I was really focused and consistent, Pennetta said. Im very much looking forward to my next match on Thursday. ' ' '