Cardinals shortstop Felipe Lopez, left, tries to turn the double play after forcing Pirate runner Nyjer Morgan (3) at second during an 11-2 St. Louis victory Wednesday night.

ST. LOUIS — Todd Wellemeyer had to work harder than usual to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates for the third time this season.

"They know me pretty well, I think that's why they were battling me," Wellemeyer said after laboring through five innings in the St. Louis Cardinals' 11-2 victory on Wednesday night. "There was no inning when I wasn't out of the stretch."

Rick Ankiel and Jason LaRue hit two-run home runs to pace a 13-hit attack. Skip Schumaker had three hits and Wellemeyer (11-4) won his fourth straight decision and added an RBI single for St. Louis, which won for only the fourth time in its last 12 games at home.

The Cardinals are an NL-best 37-29 on the road and 34-29 at home after splitting a two-game series with the Pirates. They totaled only six hits in a 4-1 loss on Tuesday.

"It shows you we can do it, a lot of good at-bats up and down the lineup," manager Tony La Russa said. "Todd was working real hard, so that's a nice cushion to give him. It was not an easy game for him."

Ryan Doumit had three hits for the second straight game including his 13th homer for Pittsburgh, but Jason Davis (1-3) failed to make it out of the fourth coming off two straight effective starts.

"I don't want this to happen again," Davis said. "I need to eat innings, and I didn't do that. If you just chalk it up, a domino effect can happen."

Doumit is hitting .538 (14-for-26) with five RBIs against the Cardinals and leads NL catchers with a .333 average.

"Who cares?" Doumit said. "It has nothing to do with the game.."

Ankiel, who has moved from center field to left field the last eight games to protect an abdominal strain, got to trot around the bases after hitting a 2-2 pitch over the fence.