St. Louis ? Jeff Suppan gave an overworked St. Louis Cardinals bullpen a big breather.

Suppan took a two-hitter into the ninth inning, and the Cardinals backed him with five home runs in an 8-1 victory Friday over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

“He’s got that ability to rise to the occasion and pick us up,” manager Tony La Russa said. “He demonstrated it again. He was a master.”

Jim Edmonds hit two two-run homers, and So Taguchi also connected twice to help the Cardinals end a three-game losing streak that matched their longest of the season. St. Louis has beaten the Pirates 13 times in the last 14 meetings dating to last year.

Suppan (7-6) allowed a bloop single by Jack Wilson leading off the third and then retired 15 batters before Humberto Cota singled leading off the eighth. He was lifted with one out in the ninth after hitting a batter and giving up three hits, including Freddy Sanchez’s RBI single.

St. Louis outfielder Jim Edmonds, right, watches his second two-run home run of the game leave the park. The Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-1, Friday in St. Louis.

Wearing long sleeves despite 94-degree heat, Suppan struck out five and walked one.

“Was it hot out there?” Suppan joked. “It’s part of playing in St. Louis or the Midwest, it’s hot and humid, but I felt fine.”

In the previous three games, starters Jason Marquis, Mark Mulder and Matt Morris had totaled 91â3 innings and allowed 23 runs – 16 earned – and 26 hits. During the losing streak, the Cardinals were outscored, 29-17.

“That’s obviously in your mind, but it wasn’t an approach I was going to take out there, like I have to go out there and throw all these innings,” Suppan said. “I went out there and said, ‘OK, what’s going to make me stay in the game longer? Get ahead, change speeds and work fast.”‘

Taguchi’s third homer with one out in the fifth was the Cardinals’ first hit off Kip Wells (5-7). Left fielder Jason Bay missed by inches on a leaping attempt at the wall on Taguchi’s first homer since May 2.