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Final Score: St. Louis 11 - Pittsburgh 6

Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Aaron Miles went 3-for-5, homered, and drove in five runs as the St. Louis Cardinals downed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-6, in the rubber match of a three-game set.

For the second straight day the Cardinals took a 10-6 lead into the ninth inning but, unlike in Saturday's 12-11, 10-inning loss, St. Louis was able to hold on Sunday.

"It was real important that we put that game behind us," said Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa. "What was important, we came out there and showed everyone."

Troy Glaus went 3-for-4 with a homer and two doubles, drove in two, and scored three times for St. Louis, which had dropped three of four prior to Sunday, and entered the All-Star break with a 53-43 mark, in second place in the NL Central. The Cardinals trail the Cubs by 4 1/2 games, with the Brewers only a half-game behind them.

Russ Springer (2-0) picked up the win for getting an out in relief of Joel Pineiro, who gave up six runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Franquelis Osoria (3-3) gave up four runs on four hits in only a third of an inning to take the loss for the Pirates. Starter Ian Snell was touched for four runs on five hits in five innings.

Chris Gomez had a two-run double and scored for Pittsburgh, which split its last six games to enter the All-Star break with a 44-50 record, in fourth place in the NL Central. The Bucs trail the Cubs by 12 1/2 games, and are only a half-game ahead of last-place Houston.

Trailing 6-5 entering the seventh, it was the Cardinals who played comeback kids to the Pirates, reversing the roles from Saturday. Ryan Ludwick led off with a single to center, and Osoria plunked Albert Pujols. Glaus followed with a double to left, scoring Ludwick to tie the game, and then Chris Duncan's single plated Pujols to put the Cards in front.

Miles tripled to center two batters later, scoring both runners to give St. Louis a 9-6 lead. Solo homers by Ludwick in the eighth and Glaus in the ninth pushed the Cardinals lead to five runs.

Pirates first basemen Doug Mientkiewicz, who went 0-for-3 with a walk, complained after the game about Pittsburgh's pitching troubles.

"We just got to stop somebody. We can't keep putting us in position to score 12 runs a game, it's not going to happen. It's frustrating. The everyday guys are killing themselves every day scoring runs. We got to find a way to get people out."

Xavier Nady's RBI single with two outs in the first gave the Pirates an early 1-0 lead, but the Cards moved in front with four two-out runs in the fourth.

Glaus got the two-out rally started with a double to left, and Duncan's double to right plated Glaus to tie the game. After a Yadier Molina walk, Miles turned on an inside fastball and ripped it deep into the seats down the line in right for a 4-1 Cards lead.

The Bucs knotted the game at 4-4 in the fifth, on an RBI double to right by Ryan Doumit, followed by a two-run single to left by Jason Bay. St. Louis took the lead back on Cesar Izturis' RBI fielder's choice grounder in the sixth, but then the Pirates answered with Gomez's two-run double to left with two gone in the home half, and moved in front 6-5.