Cardinals pound Pirates behind Corey Dickerson’s slam

Corey Dickerson hit a grand slam as the St. Louis Cardinals rolled over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, 13-3.

Albert Pujols, Alec Burleson and Dylan Carlson drove in two runs each for the Cardinals (92-66), who won for the third time in their last four games. The Pirates (59-99) suffered their 11th loss in their last 15 games.

Cardinals starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery (9-6) allowed two runs on four hits in six innings. He struck out five batters and walked one.

Pirates starting pitcher Luis Ortiz (0-2) retired just two batters and allowed six runs on three hits and three walks.

The Cardinals jumped on Ortiz to take a 6-0 first-inning lead. Brendan Donovan hit a leadoff double, Lars Nootbaar and Paul Goldschmidt drew walks, and Pujols started the scoring with a one-out, two-run single. After Burleson walked, Dickerson launched his grand slam.

The Pirates cut the lead to 6-2 in the second inning. Miguel Andujar hit a leadoff single, Diego Castillo laced a one-out double and Jason Delay hit a two-out, two-run single.

But the Cardinals pushed their lead to 10-2 in their half of the inning. Donovan was hit by a pitch, Goldschmidt reached on fielder's choice, and Nolan Arenado drilled an RBI double with two outs.

After Pujols walked, Burleson hit a two-run single, Dickerson reached on an infield single to load the bases and Molina produced a run with a soft liner that fell into center field and became an unconventional double play.

The Pirates cut the lead to 10-3 in the eighth inning. Cal Mitchell doubled to lead off, moved to third on a groundout and scored on an error.

The Cardinals made it 13-3 in their half of the inning. Donovan walked with one out, Nootbaar doubled and Carlson hit a two-run single. After Ben DeLuzio was hit by a pitch, Burleson reached on a run-producing error.