Miles Mikolas allowed one run on four hits and a walk and struck out five in five innings.

ST. LOUIS — Thursday’s Game Report: Cardinals 4, Pirates 1

Starved for offense, the Cardinals finally found it on back-to-back pitches in the seventh inning on Thursday at Busch Stadium.

With the game against the Pirates tied at 1, Masyn Winn drew a leadoff walk. After Thomas Saggese fouled off a bunt attempt, he swung away and doubled to the wall in right center to bring home Winn with the go-ahead run.

On the next pitch, Jordan Walker launched a home run to the seats in left center that capped the Cardinals win over the Pirates, allowing them to earn a split of the four-game series.

Coming into that inning, the Cardinals had been held to just 11 hits in the previous 24 innings in the series, and nine of those 11 hits were singles.

The Cardinals had not scored more than two runs in any of the previous 28 innings in the series.

Here is how Thursday’s game broke down:

At the plate: One of the previous extra-base hits was an RBI double by Ivan Herrera in the third, following a single by Lars Nootbaar, to tie the game at 1 … That hit by Nootbaar snapped an 0-of-20 streak and was the first of his three hits in the game … Walker’s homer was his fifth of the year and was the only hit by the Cardinals in four at-bats with a runner in scoring position … It was only the second home run since May 17 for Walker, the other coming earlier this month.

On the mound: After serving up a home run to Tommy Pham, the second batter of the game, Miles Mikolas was able to pitch around more traffic in the first two innings, stranding runners at second and third in both the first and second innings. He retired 12 of the next 13 hitters he faced before leaving after the fifth inning … Kyle Leahy worked two scoreless innings with four strikeouts before Riley O’Brien worked the eighth and JoJo Romero got the save after allowing a leadoff single in the ninth.

Key stat: Pham’s home run was the 27th allowed by the Cardinals in the first inning this season, the second highest total in the NL behind 28 allowed by the Rockies. It was the 10th first-inning home run allowed by Mikolas, who is tied with Kyle Freeland of the Rockies for the most first-inning homers allowed in the majors this season.

Worth noting: Pham’s homer was measured at 440 feet, the second longest home run at Busch this season … The Cardinals have been outscored 20-2 in the first inning in games in August … Willson Contreras was hit by a pitch for the 20th time this season … Victor Scott II is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Friday night with Springfield as he recovers from a sprained ankle. He could rejoin the Cardinals as early as Monday.

Up next: The Cardinals on Friday will begin a three-game series against the Reds in Cincinnati. Matthew Liberatore is the scheduled starter.