ST. LOUIS — For much of the season, Mitch Keller was hurt by a lack of Pirates run support. His team helped him out Tuesday.

The Pirates scored five first-inning runs and eight in three innings against Cardinals starter Andre Pallante, cruising to an 8-3 victory against St. Louis at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night. Keller improved to 6-12 with his 16th quality start of the season, a top-five mark in the majors.

The outing was Keller’s first quality start since July 22. In six innings, he allowed three earned runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out a season-high nine batters.

The Pirates jumped on Pallante early, starting the game with five hits and a walk in six batters. Right fielder Bryan Reynolds continued his hot stretch with an RBI double, designated hitter Andrew McCutchen had

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