PITTSBURGH — Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs, Paul Goldschmidt had three hits and the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Friday night.

Edman went deep off Dillon Peters (0-2) to finish a three-run outburst in the fifth and the St. Louis bullpen — which imploded on Thursday — kept J.A. Happ unbeaten since he arrived in St. Louis at the trade deadline. Alex Reyes overcame a leadoff single by Anthony Alford in the ninth to pick up his 29th save.

Happ (8-6) improved to 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA in five starts with the Cardinals, allowing two runs on three hits in 5 2/3 innings with three walks and four strikeouts.

Facing the Pirates — the lowest-scoring team in the majors — three times since being acquired from Minnesota on July 30 has helped. Pittsburgh has managed five runs in three games this month against the player who was a key addition for the 2015 Pirates team that won 98 games.

Those days are long gone in Pittsburgh. Happ, however, finds himself in the same position now as he was six years ago: trying to keep an NL Central team in the playoff chase.

The Cardinals have plenty of work to do. They entered Friday night five games back in the wild-card race and are getting ready for a brutal stretch that includes series against playoff contenders Milwaukee, Cincinnati (twice) and the Los Angeles Dodgers over the next two weeks.

A day after a four-run seventh-inning lead morphed into a four-run loss, St. Louis rebounded behind Happ and just enough offense (and defense) to bail out the bullpen.

Peters kept the Cardinals in check until the fifth, when Edmundo Sosa doubled. Bader followed with an RBI double to the gap in right-center and moved to third on a groundout by Happ. Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin trotted out to the mound to chat with Peters.

Whatever they chatted about didn't help. Edman sent a 2-1 offering from Peters to the bleachers in left field to make it 3-0.

The Pirates wore uniforms honoring the Homestead Grays, a Negro League team based in the city's Homestead neighborhood.