PITTSBURGH (TNS) — The Cardinals came to Pittsburgh, stayed for three games, then left. During their stay, their gracious hosts didn’t allow them to score a run.

The Pirates beat the Cardinals, 5-0, on Wednesday afternoon at PNC Park, completing a three-game sweep. They outscored the Cardinals 13-0 in the series and haven’t allowed a run in 31 innings. Wednesday was their 10th shutout victory of the season.

The Pirates have won six in a row, their longest winning streak of the year. They went 6-0 on their homestand, outscoring the Mets and Cardinals 43-4. They’re the first team to score 43 or more runs and allow four or fewer in a six-game span since at least 1901. And it was the first time since October 1976 that the Pirates threw three shutouts in a series.

Mitch Keller went 2-0 over that span, improving his record to 3-10 with the win Wednesday. He completed seven stellar innings, allowing five hits, zero runs and striking out seven. With his second strikeout, getting shortstop Masyn Winn looking to lead off the third, Keller became PNC Park’s all-time strikeout leader. He now has 389, six more than previous leader Paul Maholm.

The Pirates’ shutout streak seemed in jeopardy early. Keller allowed a leadoff double to Brendan Donovan, then loaded the bases with two outs in the first. Third baseman Thomas Saggese sharply grounded out to first baseman Spencer Horwitz to end it.

Keller allowed a leadoff double again in the second but stranded him, then left runners on the corners in the third. After a one-out Pedro Pages single in the fourth, Keller retired the final 11 batters he faced.

Left fielder Tommy Pham brought in the first two Pirates runs with two RBI singles against Cardinals starter Sonny Gray (8-3). In the second, center fielder Oneil Cruz led off with a bloop double just inside the third-base line, stole third, then scored on Pham’s single to left. In the seventh, Nick Gonzales walked, advanced to third on a Ke’Bryan Hayes single, then scored on another single from Pham.

It was over when …

… the Pirates broke it open after Pham’s single in the seventh, scoring three more runs. Isiah Kiner-Falefa brought two in with a single to right, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then scored on a Horwitz single.

On the mound

Dennis Santana pitched the eighth, returning from his three-game suspension. He walked one. Isaac Mattson pitched the ninth.

At the plate

The Pirates had seven hits, batting around in the seventh inning. Hayes’ single extended his hitting streak to 11 games, the longest by a Pirate this season. Pham has an RBI in eight of his last 10 games.

Most valuable player

Keller lowered his ERA to 3.64 with his 12th quality start of the year. On Friday, he expressed slight regret over getting a win without a quality start — on Wednesday, he got both.

Up next

The Pirates are off on Thursday ahead of their longest road trip of the year, facing three American League opponents. They’ll start Friday with a three-game set against the Mariners in Seattle before heading east for three games against the Royals in Kansas City and three more against the Twins in Minneapolis.

Neither the Pirates nor Mariners have announced their starters for the weekend series. Friday’s Independence Day game will begin at 4:10 p.m.