St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Jose Fermin is unable to catch a solo home run by Pittsburgh Pirates' Brandon Lowe during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, May 21, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS — Brandon Lowe homered, Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 on Thursday.

Rookie Konnor Griffin extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double. He also scored a run and stole a base. Griffin went 6 for 13 in the series and improved to 13 for 33 during his streak.

Braxton Ashcraft (3-2) struck out nine in seven innings. He gave up only one run on four hits and just two walks.

The Pirates won their fourth consecutive road series against National League Central opponents.

Ozuna, a former Cardinal, singled with one out to score Spencer Horwitz and Griffin, extending the lead to 4-1 in the sixth.

Henry Davis hit a leadoff homer in the seventh and Bryan Reynolds drove in a run with a ground out, making it 6-1.

Lowe, who also singled, hit a 3-2 fastball that bounced off the top of the wall just inside the left-field foul pole in the first inning. It was originally declared an inside-the-park home run before the stat was changed by the scorer.

The Pirates went ahead 2-1 in the fourth inning. Griffin scored on a fielder’s choice by Jake Mangum.

A two-out home run by Ivan Herrera in the third inning tied the score at 1-1. Herrera also scored in the eighth on a single by Jordan Walker.

Dustin May (3-5) pitched 5• innings, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks while striking out seven.

Roster move

Several online websites were reporting Thursday that the Pirates are calling up Esmerlyn Valdez from Triple-A Indianapolis.

Valdez has mostly played in the outfield but can also play first and third base. The 22-year-old is hitting .253 at Indianapolis with .887 OPS in 46 games with 10 homers, 10 doubles, 29 RBIs, 25 runs scored and 33 walks to go with 41 strikeouts.

It was not announced what the corresponding roster move would be with the addition of Valdez.

Up next

The Pirates will start RHP Bubba Chandler (1-5, 5.14) Friday in Toronto against a starter to be named.

The Cardinals will start RHP Kyle Leahy (5-3, 3.94) against Reds RHP Chris Paddack (0-5, 7.07) Friday in Cincinnati.