Cardinals knock off Pirates.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Harrison Bader stepped to the plate with a chance to pull the St. Louis Cardinals even knowing the heat Pittsburgh closer Felipe Vazquez was going to send his way.

So Bader dug in and swung as Vazquez's 99 mph fastball ran in on his hands. When it dropped for a single in the eighth inning, the game was tied. Moments later, Vazquez's control abandoned him and the Cardinals were on their way to a 6-4 victory over the slumping Pirates on Sunday.

"Obviously, it was pretty firm," Bader said. "It was just working inside the baseball and I got enough on it to just muscle it out there. That was a good one."

The Cardinals won for just the fourth time in 19 games when trailing after seven innings by pouncing on Pittsburgh's bullpen. Jedd Gyorko's pinch-hit, two-run single off Edgar Santana in the seventh pulled St. Louis within one.

The Cardinals quickly loaded the bases off Michael Feliz (0-2) and the Pirates brought in Vazquez with one out in the eighth. Bader dumped the fourth pitch he saw from Vazquez just over the outstretched hands of second baseman Sean Rodriguez. Vazquez walked Yairo Munoz on four pitches to hand St. Louis the lead and the Cardinals added another run when Carson Kelly bounced into a fielder's choice.

"It happens fast, but it just shows you that hitting is always contagious," Bader said. "You just do your best to pass the baton to the next guy. It was a really good team win. I wouldn't be in that situation if it wasn't for the guys in the game previous, what they did to allow me to have success up there."

Vazquez has blown three straight save opportunities for the Pirates, who have dropped seven of nine. Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said afterward that Vazquez experienced left forearm discomfort after his final two pitches. Vazquez was not available postgame and will be re-evaluated Monday.

"We haven't seen him in this lane before as far as being inconsistent with the command, especially the fastball," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said before Vazquez was examined by the training staff. "It's been something that's really been in a good place. We'll keep hunting it and so will he."

Sam Tuivailala (1-0) picked up the win with a scoreless seventh. Bud Norris worked a perfect ninth for his 11th save.

Matt Carpenter went 2 for 4 for St. Louis and is hitting .422 (19 of 45) since May 16.

NATIONALS 5, MARLINS 2.

MIAMI (AP) — Bryce Harper's recent hitting funk will come as news to the folks at the Metro Grill, located on the right field concourse at Marlins Park.

Harper sent customers scurrying when he deposited a majestic drive near the cashier's counter for his NL-leading 16th home run Sunday, and the Washington Nationals completed a three-game sweep by beating the Miami Marlins for the 11th time in a row, 5-2.

Harper struck out eight times in the series but pulled a pitch from lefty Jarlin Garcia inside the foul pole leading off the sixth inning.

"That was a bomb," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "To hit a ball like that against a left-handed pitcher, that's a good sign."

Harper added a sacrifice fly in the seventh. He's on pace for 118 RBIs but is batting .232, and his annoyance showed Saturday when he shattered a bat in the dugout after striking out.

But he said he'll trade whiffs for home runs — and victories.

"I'm not really too frustrated, because we're winning games," he said. "If I hit .230 and I hit 40, I'll take it any day of the week."

Harper's teammates were in a slugging mood, too. Anthony Rendon hit his fifth home run for the Nationals, who lead the league in homers. Wilmer Difo had a double and a triple, and 19-year-old newcomer Juan Soto doubled for his fourth extrabase hit in seven games.

With another victory in Miami, the Nationals matched the longest winning streak in franchise history against one team. It's the Marlins' longest losing streak against an opponent since 1999.

"They've got some pretty decent pitching, but they're young," Martinez said. "It's not easy."

Stephen Strasburg (6-4) pitched five shutout innings and contributed his first RBI of the season , but departed after throwing 103 pitches. He has thrown 23 consecutive scoreless innings against the Marlins, and improved his record against them to 16-7 in 29 starts.

"I wouldn't say I pitch to any certain team differently," Strasburg said. "It's just baseball. You get away with some pitches, and you get beat on some good pitches. Today I was more on the side of getting away with some."

Brandon Kintzler pitched around a single in the ninth for his second save. The Nationals have outscored the Marlins 71-20 in their past 11 meetings.

"They're a talented club, so you're going to have to fight for your wins all the time," Miami manager Don Mattingly said.

Miami's Justin Bour hit his 10th homer, but mostly it was another dismal offensive effort by the Marlins, who rank last in the majors in runs, home runs, slugging and OPS.

ROCKIES 8, REDS 2.

DENVER (AP) — Carlos Gonzalez had a season-high four hits, including a third-deck homer off Matt Harvey, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-2 on Sunday.

It was Gonzalez's first four-hit game since Sept. 12, 2016, at Arizona.

David Dahl, Nolan Arenado and Ian Desmond also homered for the Rockies, who earned their second home series win of the season. German Marquez (4-5) pitched seven innings of one-run ball in his second straight victory.

Colorado leads the NL West despite its 9-12 record at Coors Field.