Skenes gets standing ovation … on road vs. division foe!

St. LOUIS — Paul Skenes went a career-high 6 1/3 innings — throwing a career-high 103 pitches — and the Pirates finally broke through offensively late to beat the Cardinals in their first trip to Busch Stadium this year Tuesday, winning 2-1.

Skenes struck out eight and did not issue a walk, working around five hits while pitching into the seventh for the first time. Three of those strikeouts came with his curveball, which he threw 20 times, compared to 18 over his first five Major League starts.

In addition to the career-highs, perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of Skenes’ stellar outing was what happened after he left the game: despite pitching on the road, the home Cardinals fans gave him a standing ovation.

The Pirates needed an outing like that because Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas took a perfect game into the sixth and a no-hitter into the seventh. They had golden chances to score in the seventh and eighth, starting with a leadoff Bryan Reynolds triple and Nick Gonzales double, but Nolan Arenado erased those runners with a pair of defensive gems. He made a diving snare on a Ke’Bryan Hayes and doubled off Reynolds, and then got Gonzales trying to advance to third on a Michael A. Taylor bunt attempt.

The Pirates would eventually strike against Ryan Helsley, who loaded the bases with nobody out before Connor Joe and Oneil Cruz drove in the Pirates’ only runs of the game. David Bednar survived a Nolan Gorman solo shot in the ninth to get his 14th save of the season.

The Pirates are now 32-34.