PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates wish they'd played and pitched this way all season. The St. Louis Cardinals wish they were pitching and playing now the way they did most of the season.

Paul Maholm became the latest slumping pitcher to shut down the fast-fading Cardinals, pitching effectively over seven innings, and the Pirates won their season-high fourth in a row 5-2 Tuesday night.

The Pirates remain two losses way from their first 100-loss season since 2001, but are 4-0 on a homestand that began with a three-game sweep of Arizona. Pittsburgh hadn't won that many in a row since a five-game run from Aug. 17-22, 2009, against the Brewers and Reds.

"The staff has settled in a little bit, guys are playing hard, and they still have goals in mind they'd like to accomplish," manager John Russell said. "It's good they're not just looking forward to that last day (of the season) in Florida and in heading off to the offseason. They're still playing hard and still competing."

For the Cardinals, elimination is near. Their 24th loss in 36 games and Cincinnati's 4-3 win over Milwaukee dropped their magic number for elimination in the NL Central to four.

Maholm, who had one win since July 18, gave up runs on Albert Pujols' RBI double in the third and force-play grounder in the fifth but otherwise checked the Cardinals on seven hits, striking out four and walking none. It was his first start without a walk since he beat Houston 9-0 with a three-hitter on July 18.

"I'm a much better pitcher than I've showed and that's the frustrating part," Maholm said. "A lot of people expect me to go deep into games, and obviously I haven't been. Tonight felt normal and hopefully I can finish my last two (starts) like that."