ST. LOUIS -- Matt Adams took advantage of an unexpected opportunity Friday night.
Adams hit a bases-loaded single with two outs in the 10th inning to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Cardinals have won four in a row and 14 of their last 17 at home against Pittsburgh.
The Pirates fell to 4-3 on their nine-game road trip.
Jon Jay started the winning rally with a two-out single off Rob Scahill (0-2). Matt Carpenter followed with a double down the left-field line and Matt Holliday was intentionally walked, which came as a shock to Adams.
"I couldn't believe it. I was sure they would pitch to him," he said. "When they didn't, I was ready to hit."
Adams laced a 1-1 pitch to left field for his second career walk-off hit.
"We needed something to happen and he made it happen," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "Guys like him, they want to be up in that situation. He's been taking some real good at-bats. That was a nice, short swing."
Scahill threw a sinker, down and away. Adams was ready.
"It was a good pitch. I would throw it again," Scahill said. "He's a good hitter. He just slapped it down the line. There was nothing I could do."
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Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle defended the decision to walk Holliday, who was 3 for 3 lifetime against Scahill. Adams had never faced the right-handed reliever.
"We thought we'd take a shot with a guy who hadn't seen him," Hurdle said. "It didn't work."
Randy Choate (1-0) struck out Gregory Polanco with two on for the win.
Pittsburgh right-hander A.J. Burnett allowed two hits over six shutout innings and drove in the first run of the game. He struck out seven and walked three in a 97-pitch outing.
Burnett also passed Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax to move into 42nd place on the career strikeout list with 2,397.
"It just means I'm old," Burnett joked. "Really, to be able to do it at this age and still have some success means a lot."
Cardinals starter Lance Lynn gave up one run on four hits and struck out 10 in seven innings.
"I like where I was at tonight," Lynn said. "They're a good-hitting team, they've got guys who know what they're doing. That's the beauty of baseball: It's you versus them and sometimes you're better."
St. Louis tied the game on a two-out, bases-loaded infield single by pinch-hitter Mark Reynolds in the seventh. Pittsburgh reliever Tony Watson then got Jay to ground out.
Burnett drove in his first run since June 20 last year with a single up the middle against a drawn-in infield in the sixth for a 1-0 lead. Francisco Cervelli led off the inning with a single and moved to third on a first-pitch double by Jordy Mercer.
Following Burnett's 15th career RBI, Polanco drew a walk to load the bases. Lynn then retired Josh Harrison, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker to prevent any more damage.
Burnett has been given just five runs of support in his five starts covering 31 innings.
St. Louis outfielder Jason Heyward threw out Sean Rodriguez trying to stretch a single in the eighth inning.
NO ROUND-TRIPPERS
The Pirates have not given up a home run in their last nine games, the team's longest streak since going 10 games without yielding a homer in May 1991.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Pirates: RHP Charlie Morton, recovering from labrum surgery, will throw 60-70 pitches in a simulated game Saturday in Bradenton, Florida. He could join the team in time for its six-game homestand beginning Tuesday.
Cardinals: OF Tommy Pham was transferred to the 60-day disabled list with a left quadriceps injury, and RHP Miguel Socolovich was called up from Triple-A Memphis. Socolovich did not give up a run in seven appearances covering 12 2/3 innings at Memphis. ... LHP Tim Cooney was optioned to Memphis. Cooney gave up three runs over 2 1/3 innings in his major league debut Thursday, a 9-3 win over Philadelphia.
UP NEXT
Pirates: LHP Francisco Liriano (1-1, 2.22 ERA) will make his fifth start of the season in the middle game of the series Saturday afternoon. He threw 6 1/3 innings and allowed just two hits in an 8-0 win at Arizona on Sunday.
Cardinals: RHP John Lackey (1-1, 4.21) will be making his 360th career appearance Saturday. He gave up three runs on nine hits over seven innings in a 4-1 loss to Philadelphia on Monday.
