PITTSBURGH -- Adam Wainwright is still in search of his best stuff. His bat made sure his best wasnt necessary.The St. Louis ace drove in three runs and survived five occasionally bumpy innings to pick up his first victory since mid-July as the Cardinals drummed the staggering Pittsburgh Pirates 12-6 on Monday.Wainwright hit an RBI-double off Chad Kuhl (3-3) in the second and added a two-run single in the fourth as the Cardinals held on to the second wild card spot in the National League by sending the Pirates to their seventh straight loss.We needed that win, Wainwright said. We need every win that we can get coming down the stretch. Any part that I can play in that is a treat for me, a privilege.Wainwright (10-8) allowed four runs and struck out five as his ERA rose to 4.61 while picking up his first victory since July 16. He hardly needed to be sharp as the Cardinals battered Pittsburghs beleaguered pitching staff. Jedd Gyorko and Matt Adams homered for St. Louis to extend the teams streak of games with at least one home run to a club-record 24.Andrew McCutchen and Adam Frazier hit home runs for the Pirates, who have been outscored 47-22 during their current slide. A week ago Pittsburgh was well within striking distance of the Cardinals for a playoff spot but have fallen 4 1/2 games behind St. Louis and dropped below .500 (67-68) for the first time since July 2.Were trying to figure ourselves out and get out of this and get back to playing baseball the way we want to play, shortstop Jordy Mercer said. We just have to keep going.St. Louis pounded out 14 hits -- eight for extra bases -- against five pitchers and wasted little time getting to Kuhl, who has been steady if not spectacular since joining the rotation full-time a month ago.Wainwrights double to the wall in center field put the Cardinals in front and Stephen Piscottys two-run double later in the inning gave Wainwright an early cushion, one he flirted with giving away. Pittsburgh touched him for two runs in the bottom of the inning but Wainwright avoided major damage.I hate giving up runs after we score, Wainwright said. Thats driving me crazy. But what we did do well there is we held them to two. We could have let that inning get away from us, and we didnt.Jeff Locke came on relief of Kuhl in the third and the Cardinals quickly went to work. Kolten Wongs RBI single against him made it 4-2 and Gyorko opened the fourth with a long home run down the left-field line for his 26th of the year.Wainwrights bloop to left later in the inning pushed St. Louis lead to six runs and allowed Wainwright to leave after five innings in which he needed 93 pitches to get 15 outs.He was at 93 pitches, and were in September, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. The first two (innings) were stressful. To me, weve got a lead that we think our bullpen can hold. I guess your greatest argument (for leaving him in) is you want to see him hit again.TRAINERS ROOMCardinals: Piscotty left in the fifth inning after being hit in the wrist with a pitch though Matheny said X-rays were negative. ... RHP Mike Leake will return after a bout with the shingles when he starts on Wednesday. ... C Brayan Pena is finally healthy after battling injuries much of the season but the team will not use him to catch a full game.Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli was taken out of the game after the fourth inning with discomfort in his left thumb. ... C Elias Diaz is being evaluated for cellulitis in his left leg and will be re-evaluated on Thursday.UP NEXTCardinals: Rookie Luke Weaver makes his fourth major league start on Tuesday. Weaver is 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA and gave up three runs over six innings in his last start against Milwaukee.Pirates: Veteran Ryan Vogelsong (3-4, 3.56 ERA) will make his ninth start of the season and seventh since returning from the DL on Aug. 4 after missing more than two months while recovering from facial fractures sustained when he was hit by a pitch on May 23. Vogelsong is 3-7 with a 5.75 ERA in 22 appearances against the Cardinals. Custom Jerseys Adidas . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Authentic Custom Jerseys . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. https://www.cheapcustomjerseysonline.com/ . Tracey comes to the Blue Bombers after spending over a decade with Queens University. Most recently he was the schools assistant football coach. Custom Jerseys Nike . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. Custom Jerseys . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long.Mauricio Pochettino apologised to fans for what he described as his worst result as a manager after Tottenhams 5-1 defeat by Newcastle. Spurs ended the season in third place, behind rivals Arsenal for the 21st consecutive season, drawing two and losing two of their final four games of the season.Pochettino, who signed a new five-year deal with Spurs in midweek, could not hide his disappointment at the performance, and insists his players mentality was to blame. Report: Newcastle 5-1 Tottenham Newcastle thrashed Tottenham 5-1 with 10 men to leave Spurs third in the Premier League He told Sky Sports: Im very disappointed; it was my worse game as a manager. We spoke weeks before about never giving up, we need to learn and improve our mentality.Firstly I want to apologise to our fans, our supporters, it was a shame what happened on the pitch. Georginio Wijnaldum celebrates scoring for Newcastle in the romp I apologise to our families, the families who have suffered behind us, it is difficult now to arrive home and explain what has happened here.When you watch the game it wasnt a tactical problem, a skill or technical problem, it was a mental problem. When you go on the pitch you need to give 100 per cent. We need to show more character. Spurs were poor at St James Park on Sunday Tottenham were Leicesters nearest challengers for the title for the majority of the season, but after their 2-2 draw with Chelsea at the beginning of the month, Pochettinos side have faltered.The Argentine says he challenged his players to keep theirr mental edge after that disappointing result, and added that these types of performances cannot be repeated.ddddddddddddes [the Chelsea result was difficult to take], this was our challenge, to keep the mentality. After Chelsea we showed a lot of weakness, against Southampton and today. This cannot repeat again. Arsenal finished second after their 4-0 win over Aston Villa First of all, it is my responsibility, but I am disappointed. I think we need to analyse now, we are third in the table.But its not about the result, today the first 45 minutes was bad, and in the second we conceded three goals against 10 players. Rafa Benitez confirmed that he is happy at Newcastle and wants to stay at the club, but needs assurances that they have the same ambitions as him Also See: As it happened Newcastle 5-1 Spurs Table Live on Sky ' ' '