Pirates’ Spiral Deepens

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Lane Thomas hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning, Paul Goldschmidt and Dexter Fowler also homered, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-9 Sunday.  St. Louis rallied from an 8-4 deficit to sweep the three-game series and move into second place in the NL Central, two games behind the Chicago Cubs.  Josh Bell had two homers and four RBIs for Pittsburgh, which has lost eight straight, and 24 of 28 games since the All-Star Break. Pablo Reyes added a solo shot in the ninth. Thomas, a rookie outfielder playing his 21st game, drove in five runs. His first career slam came off Kyle Crick (3-7) and put the Cardinals ahead 9-8. He also had an RBI triple in the fourth. John Gant (8-0) tossed a scoreless seventh to pick up the win. Andrew Miller picked up his fourth save in six tries. Bell hit two-run homers in the first and fifth innings. It was the fifth multihomer game of his career, all this season. The homers, his 28th and 29th, were his first since July 5. He has an NL-leading 68 extra-base hits. Pittsburgh starter Steven Brault gave up four earned runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three. Brault had a seven-game hitting streak halted with an 0-for-2 performance. He came into the contest on an 8-for-10 run. RHP Mitch Keller (0-1, 10.50) will face Los Angeles Angels LHP Jose Suarez (2-3, 6.22) in the first of a three-game set in Anaheim on Monday. Keller will be recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday. He will be making his fourth major league start.