ST. LOUIS -- Peter Bourjos had no trouble calling the 310th hit in his big league career the biggest.
Hitting in the eighth spot, Bourjos singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 Wednesday to stretch their winning streak to five.
"I had a walkoff hit in Anaheim, but I think at this point, we're leading the division and it's a big game in September and the one in Anaheim was in August," Bourjos said. "So this is the biggest hit."
Yadier Molina walked with two outs in the ninth on a 3-2 pitch from Mark Melancon (2-4), who had entered an inning earlier. It was the first time Melancon's pitched more than one inning since Oct. 2, 2012.
Molina advanced to second on John Jay's single and scored on the hit by Bourjos, easily beating the throw home from center fielder Andrew McCutchen.
"I was just hoping that Yadi was able to score," Bourjos said. "I wasn't too sure with McCutchen playing out there. I didn't know if he was playing shallow or deep, and I watched the play develop, and luckily Yadi was able to beat the play."
Molina saw third base coach Jose Oquendo waving an arm to send him.
"I was thinking home plate all the way," Molina said. "No one was going to stop me there."
Despite having A.J. Pierzynski on the bench, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said he did not consider pinch-running for Molina, a slow-footed All-Star catcher.
"Two outs in that situation and we're in a tight game, his value to me being behind the plate outweighs what we're going to get on the bases from someone," Matheny said. "If he gets thrown out, it's a different conversation right now. He's done such a great job in big games, we need him out there."
St. Louis moved into sole possession of the NL Central lead for the first time Monday and extended its lead to 2 1/2 games with a three-game sweep that dropped the Pirates five games back. Pittsburgh has lost 10 of its last 12 road games, falling to a major league-worst 17-29 away from home in day games.
Trevor Rosenthal (2-6) pitched a one-hit ninth, aided by the eighth double play he's induced this season. Both of his victories have come against the Pirates on ninth-inning walkoffs.
Pinch-hitter Gregory Polanco drew an 11-pitch walk leading off the eighth against Carlos Martinez, who retired the next three batters.
St. Louis starter Shelby Miller allowed 3 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings. The Pirates' Edinson Volquez gave up 3 hits and 2 walks in 6 1/3 innings.
NATIONALS 8, DODGERS 5 (14) Adam LaRoche came off the bench in the ninth inning and drove in five runs, including a tying home run and later a go-ahead grounder in the 14th that sent visiting Washington to a wild victory over Los Angeles. Asdrubal Cabrera added a two-run shot in the final inning for the Nationals, who withstood two late rallies in a game that lasted 5 hours, 34 minutes -- the longest at Dodger Stadium this season. Washington took two of three in the series, a potential playoff preview between NL division leaders. All of LaRoche's RBI either tied the game or gave his team the lead.
ROCKIES 9, GIANTS 2 Nolan Arenado hit a go-ahead, three-run home run and Corey Dickerson followed with his second long ball of the game to lead host Colorado past San Francisco.
BRAVES 7, PHILLIES 4 Christian Bethancourt had three hits in his return to the major leagues, including a fifth-inning single that drove in the go-ahead run in Atlanta's victory over visiting Philadelphia.
CUBS 6, BREWERS 2 Rookie Jorge Soler had a two-run double to become the second player in Cubs history with as many as 10 RBI in his first seven games as host Chicago beat Milwaukee.
METS 4, MARLINS 3 Travis d’Arnaud hit a go-ahead RBI double in the eighth inning to lift the visiting New York Mets to a victory over Miami.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
MARINERS 2, ATHLETICS 1 Kyle Seager and Corey Hart homered leading off the seventh inning to back Felix Hernandez's stellar start, and visiting Seattle rallied to beat Oakland to win the three-game series between the American League West rivals. Hernandez (14-5) won for the first time in four outings. The right-hander gave up 3 hits, struck out 4 and walked 2 to outduel Jon Lester in a matchup of two of the AL's best pitchers. The Mariners tagged Lester for seven hits in eight innings. Fernando Rodney earned his 41st save in 44 chances.
ROYALS 4, RANGERS 1 Alex Gordon hit a two-run home run, Jason Vargas pitched into the seventh inning and host Kansas City beat Texas.
ASTROS 4, ANGELS 1 Chris Carter homered twice and drove in three runs as host Houston beat Los Angeles.
INDIANS 7, TIGERS 0 Danny Salazar (6-6) struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter, and Cleveland shut down visiting Detroit.
YANKEES 5, RED SOX 1 Brian McCann homered among his career high-tying four hits and host New York beat Boston.
BLUE JAYS 7, RAYS 4 Dioner Navarro and Edwin Encarnacion each hit two-run home runs and visiting Toronto downed Tampa Bay.
TWINS 11, WHITE SOX 4 Host Minnesota broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning with a five-run outburst to beat the Chicago White Sox.
INTERLEAGUE
ORIOLES 6, REDS 0 Miguel Gonzalez pitched a four-hitter, and host Baltimore hit three home runs off Dylan Axelrod in a victory over Cincinnati.
Sports on 09/04/2014