ST. LOUIS — Saturday’s starting pitchers combined to face 13 batters, and allow four runs and six hits, in the first inning. They both clamped down after that. 

Jeff Locke walked two batters after Matt Carpenter’s leadoff double, loading the bases, before Randal Grichuk’s single tied the game at 2-2. 

“We preach so much about going out there, and we have a little bit of a lead, how big the shutdown inning is,” Locke said. “How important it is, coming off the series with Chicago where we let on like 100 runners before we got an out, it seemed like. We just didn’t do a lot of things right. We emphasize so much, it’s so important, to try to hold that lead. We come up and score two, you don’t want to go out there and give up anything, and then that happens.”

After Yadier Molina gave away an out by bunting, Locke got a double play and escaped the inning. From there on out, he threw 56 pitches in five innings and allowed two more baserunners. He retired the final 12 batters he faced.

“A lot of the credit has to go to their offense,” Locke said. “They’re the ones that beat it in the ground or hit it right at somebody. It’s a different story if it’s in the gap or if it’s up the middle.”

In Locke’s past three outings, all quality starts, he allowed six runs in 19 innings (2.84 ERA), with six walks and 15 strikeouts.

“He’s out there fighting,” manager Clint Hurdle said. ”He wants to make a difference and strengthen this rotation. The last three starts are indicative of the focus and the intent, the execution, the conviction he’s pitching with.

Adam Wainwright allowed four hits and two runs in the first inning, then retired 18 of the next 20 batters he faced and let one runner reach scoring position.

“He just looked like he was throwing more strikes, getting ahead and staying ahead,” said John Jaso, who went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

**********

The Pirates’ bullpen struggled. Three relievers allowed three runs and five hits in 2/13 innings. Jared Hughes let the Cardinals take the lead in the eighth and A.J. Schugel gave up the game-winning homer in the ninth. 

Hurdle said he did not consider using Mark Melancon. Tony Watson had pitched two out of the past three days, thrown 37 pitches, and today’s game was a day game after a night game. Hurdle cited these reasons for not using Watson.

So he went to Schugel, who had pitched 61/3 scoreless innings, with one walk and five strikeouts, in his past four outings.

“Tie ballgame, it’s a possible one-inning [outing], maybe two innings at the most,” Hurdle said. “It’s a possible one inning, maybe two innings at the most, and the job he’s done for us, yeah, I had confidence to send him out there.”

First Published: May 7, 2016, 10:46 p.m.