The Pittsburgh Pirates had eight hits, including three by rookie second baseman Nick Yorke, but continued to struggle to score against the St. Louis Cardinals.

It cost them the season series against their rivals in the NL Central.

Rookie Jordan Walker hit the game-winning home run with a solo home run in the fourth inning, helping the Cardinals to a 3-1 victory over the Pirates at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night.

For the Cardinals (76-75) it was the seventh win in eleven games against the Pirates (71-80), deciding the season series two games before the end.

It was the fourth consecutive year and fifth time in the last six seasons that the Pirates have lost at least 80 games, with the only exception being their 19-41 record in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The Pirates have not won since 2018, when they finished fourth in the NL Central at 82-79.

Pirates left-hander Bailey Falter (8-8) allowed two runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 5⅔ innings and got out of trouble in the first and third innings by forcing the Cardinals into two 5-4-3 double plays. Falter had twice as many groundouts (eight) as flyouts.

“He got himself out of a tight spot in a couple of innings by being able to get the ball on the ground,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We got a couple of double plays. We did a good job. I think that shows his development as a starter.”

But Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn (7-4) had five strikeouts and allowed one run on four hits and two walks in six innings. The Cardinals also did not allow a baserunner to reach third base.

The Pirates scored first when Bryan De La Cruz sent Lance Lynn’s 1-0 fastball 431 feet to left field with two outs in the second inning for his second home run with the Pirates and 20th of the season. But the Pirates went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight on base.

The Cardinals tied the game at 1-1 in the third inning when Michael Siani hit a leadoff double, stole third base and scored on Luken Baker’s triple that Bryan Reynolds couldn’t catch and bounced off the left outfield wall.

The Cardinals had three stolen bases and Falter blamed himself.

“I have to get better with the walks and stolen bases now. There are just too many free runs,” said Falter. “I could have done better to give my team a chance to win. We have to get a few things right.”

“We need to be quicker at the swing and improve our timing. The pitch clock was a bit annoying to me today. I felt like I looked up and was already four or five seconds behind. They took advantage of that.”

Paul Goldschmidt reached first base by obstructing the catcher and moved runners to the corners, but Falter brought Nolan Arenado to a double play that ended the inning.

Walker hit Falter’s fastball 425 feet into the left-center field bullpen on a full count for a solo home run that gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead with one out in the fourth inning.

Yorke, who made his major league debut Monday night, went 3 for 4 in his second game. He got his first MLB hit with a single to center in the fifth inning and Michael A. Taylor worked a walk to put two runners on base with one out, but Nick Gonzales worked a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

“I put a little bit of pressure on yesterday when I was 0 for 3,” said Yorke, who was 0 for 3 in Monday’s 4-0 loss. “I put a little bit of pressure on so it means a lot to get it over with.”

The Pirates’ best scoring opportunity came in the eighth inning. Gonzales hit a double to third base and reached third on a single to left by Reynolds. When Joey Bart hit a flyout to left, Reynolds moved to second on a throw from Brendan Donovan. But Cardinals left-hander Matthrew Liberatore struck out Andrew McCutchen and grounded pinch hitter Isiah Kiner-Falefa to second, ending the threat.

Kiner-Falefa stayed in the game at third base, but Masyn Winn’s sharp grounder bounced off his glove in the eighth inning, leading to a leadoff single. Pinch hitter Alec Burleson worked a full-count walk, putting runners on first and second base with no outs.

Winn advanced to third base on Paul Goldschmidt’s flyout to right and then scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Arenado when Billy Cook’s throw bounced off Bart’s left at home base, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.

Yorke got his third hit with a two-out single to center in the ninth inning against Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley, then moved to second base due to a lack of defense. But Helsley got pinch hitter Yasmani Grandal to see a curveball for a third strike, earning his 45th save.

“Sometimes we’re one hit or one throw away and we’ve got to make it happen,” Shelton said. “We had some opportunities at the end and couldn’t capitalize on them. We’ve got to find a way to get that hit or make that throw.”