PITTSBURGH — Zach Duke waited nearly all season to pitch like he did last year. Maybe it helped that the St. Louis Cardinals don't currently resemble their 100-win team of a year ago.

Duke struck out seven in his second complete game of the season, Nate McLouth drove in three runs with a home run and triple and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cardinals 7-1 Friday night to end a five-game losing streak.

Duke (8-10), winless in three starts since July 19, outpitched Jeff Suppan (9-7), who had won three of four with a 1.95 ERA since the All-Star break. The left-handed Duke gave up a run in the first on Albert Pujols' double and Juan Encarnacion's two-out single, then limited the slumping Cardinals to six hits after that.

"I was able to put a pretty good string of innings together," Duke said. "For the most part, I was able to limit the damage and when I'm on, that's what I do."

Duke, who again resembled the in-control, poised rookie who went 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA in 14 starts following his midseason callup a year ago. He didn't walk a batter, though he hit two, and was helped out by three double-play grounders. He also threw nearly three-quarters of his 101 pitches for strikes (75).

"It's all about control," Duke said. "I had it like I had it last year. The batters have made some adjustments and they're taking a different approach to me than last year, but I haven't been making pitches like I did last year."

With third baseman Scott Rolen sitting out with back spasms — he is hitting .478 against the Pirates this season — the Cardinals dropped their third in five games on their current road trip and their 11th in their last 15. They had been 7-2 against the Pirates this season and 19-6 over the last two seasons.

"We had a tough day — they pitched and hit like a first-place team and we didn't," manager Tony La Russa said.

McLouth came into the game with 13 RBIs in 266 at-bats, only to drive in three in a span of two at-bats, or as many RBIs as he had in his previous 23 games. McLouth was lifted in the seventh with a sore left ankle, though he doesn't think the injury is serious.