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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Paul Goldschmidt's power streak helped lift the St. Louis Cardinals into a share of the NL Central lead for the first time since early May.
Goldschmidt homered in his career-high fourth straight game, lifting the Cardinals over the Pittsburgh 6-3 on Thursday for a four-game sweep of the Pirates.
St. Louis won the eighth time in nine games and at 55-47 tied the idle Chicago Cubs for first. St. Louis last held the lead before play on May 7.
Goldschmidt drove in nine runs and had four of the Cardinals' 12 home runs during sweep.
"He's an impressive guy," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. "We're seeing what he's capable of consistently. We're not surprised."
With St. Louis ahead 2-1 in the fourth, Goldschmidt drove a changeup from Joe Musgrove (7-9) for his 22nd home run. He has one homer in each of his past five games against Pittsburgh.
"We've been finding some holes," Goldschmidt said. "We've been hitting extra-base hits."
Kolten Wong homered later in the fourth and Dexter Fowler hit a two-run drive for a 6-1 margin in the fifth as the Cardinals won for the 11th time in 14 games since the All-Star break, including their last five.
Pittsburgh was outscored 30-19 in the series and has lost 11 of 13.
"We haven't played winning baseball," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "I know that's an overstatement, but it's a statement, and it's true. We haven't played winning baseball. We haven't connected the dots."
Miles Mikolas (7-10) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings.
"I felt good to have a couple games in a row getting into the sixth and close to the seventh," Mikolas said. "Thought I had everything working today. Maybe not my best fastball, but I thought I had good control of the slider and the other off-speed stuff."
Musgrove matched his season high by giving up six runs -- five earned -- and seven hits in five innings. He faulted his slider.
"I thought they were kind of able to eliminate that pitch," he said. "I threw a lot of really good ones just right off the edge. I couldn't get them to chase."
Jose Martinez hit an RBI single in the first and scored on Paul DeJong's sacrifice fly. Bryan Reynolds's sacrifice fly cut the Cardinals' lead to 2-1 in the third.
Right-hander Alex McRae, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, followed Musgrove and gave up one walk in 1 2/3 innings. To make room on the 25-man roster, right-hander Luis Escobar was optioned to Indianapolis.
Starling Marte extended his hit streak to six games with a double in the sixth that cut Pittsburgh's deficit to 6-2, and later scored on a groundball from Colin Moran for the 6-3 final. While Marte has been consistent, Pirates first baseman Josh Bell continues to struggle.
Bell, who was 1 for 3 with one walk Thursday, has seven hits in 38 at bats with two RBIs since the All-Star break. After hitting 27 home runs before the break, he has yet to homer since.
"I feel like I just have to focus on, I guess, being more selective for the time being," Bell said. "Seeing the last series or so, how guys are attacking me, I'm just going to try to go from there and hunt my pitch, and try not to miss it. See if that helps me get back on the right track."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: INF Matt Carpenter, returning from a bruised right foot, was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in six innings at third base on Wednesday night in his second injury rehabilitation game for Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday night.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Jack Flaherty (4-6), seeking his first win since May 14, starts Friday against Houston. He has given up two runs in 18 1/3 innings in his past three starts.
Pirates: RHP Dario Agrazal (2-0) starts Friday at the New York Mets. The 24-year-old rookie has allowed eight runs -- seven earned -- in 28 innings over five starts.
Mets 4, Padres 0
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jacob deGrom pitched seven innings of four-hit ball while getting a rare bit of first-inning run support, and the New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres.
Todd Frazier hit a two-run double as New York built a four-run lead in its first turn against Eric Lauer, the most runs the Mets have scored in the first inning during deGrom's 160 starts. New York had scored four or more runs total in six of his 20 prior outings this season.
DeGrom (6-7) struck out nine and walked one on 105 pitches in the matinee, extending his scoreless streak to 17 innings. The ace from the Sunshine State has a 1.86 ERA in 52 day games, best in the majors since at least 1913 for pitchers with at least 200 innings.
Mets closer Edwin Diaz entered for the ninth in a non-save situation and was pulled after Manny Machado drilled a base hit off his left foot. Diaz limped off the field with a trainer and was replaced by Luis Avilan.
The Padres have lost nine of 12, a slump that likely has dropped them out the crowded wild card race. Lauer (5-8) was pulled after 2 1/3 innings with four runs allowed on six hits and three walks.
Rockies 8, Nationals 7
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Washington ace Max Scherzer lasted five innings in his return from the injured list, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Nationals in a battle of worn-out bullpens.
Ian Desmond led off the ninth with a homer off 42-year-old Fernando Rodney (0-4), who pitched in both games of Wednesday's doubleheader. Rodney then walked Charlie Blackmon, who advanced on a wild pitch and a single by David Dahl, and Daniel Murphy drove in Blackmon with a groundout.
Murphy homered and scored three times for the Rockies, who avoided a four-game sweep and won for just the fourth time in their past 20 games. Jairo Diaz (3-2) worked a scoreless eighth, and Wade Davis earned his 15th save.
Anthony Rendon hit a three-run drive for Washington, which wasted a chance to gain ground on first-place Atlanta in the NL East.
Red Sox 19, Yankees 3
BOSTON (AP) -- Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer in a seven-run first inning, then added a solo shot in the eighth as the Boston Red Sox put a historic pounding on the AL East-leading Yankees, beating New York in the opener of their four-game series.
The 19 runs were the most scored by the Red Sox against the Yankees in the 117-year history of the rivalry.
Bogaerts had four hits, and Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr. had three apiece. Bradley, Michael Chavis and J.D. Martinez each had two of Boston's 10 doubles.
In perhaps the worst-ever start by a Yankees pitcher against the Red Sox, Masahiro Tanaka (7-6) allowed 12 runs on 12 hits and three walks while striking out four in 3 1/3 innings. It was the most earned runs ever allowed by a Yankees pitcher against Boston since the earned run became an official stat in 1913.
Twins 10, White Sox 3
CHICAGO (AP) -- Nelson Cruz hit three of Minnesota's five homers and finished with five RBIs, helping the AL Central-leading Twins beat the slumping Chicago White Sox.
Cruz hit a solo drive in the first, a two-run shot in the third and another two-run homer in the fifth. He struck out swinging for the final out of the sixth, and then flied out to right leading off the ninth.
It was the first three-homer game for the six-time All-Star, who has 385 home runs in his career. He became the 10th player in big league history with a three-homer game after turning 39, according to Baseball Prospectus, joining a list that includes Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez.
Max Kepler and Miguel Sano also connected as Minnesota totaled at least five homers for a major league-record ninth time this season, according to STATS. Jose Berrios (9-5) pitched seven effective innings for his first win since June 6.