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PITTSBURGH — Oneil Cruz finished a home run short of the cycle, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat St. Louis 8-2 to keep the Cardinals from stretching their lead atop the NL Central. Cruz had a two-run triple, a double and an RBI single to extend his hitting streak to six games, matching the rookie's longest. Albert Pujols entered as a pinch hitter for the Cardinals and went 0 for 2. The 42-year-old remained at 695 home runs with 23 games remaining in his final big league season. NL batting leader Paul Goldschmidt was 1 for 4, dropping his average to .327.
