PITTSBURGH — Cincinnati native Adam Hyzdu, a career minor leaguer who had his number retired even before getting to the majors, is having a career weekend against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Adam Hyzdu is greeted at the dugout after his second three-run homer Saturday. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        The Moeller High product hit a pair of three-run homers and drove in seven runs — giving him three homers and 11 RBIs in two games — and the Pittsburgh Pirates overpowered the Cardinals for the second straight night, winning 15-6 Saturday.

        Hyzdu, a 30-year-old outfielder who had more than 4,000 minor league at-bats before finally reaching the majors briefly in 2000 and 2001, hit a three-run shot in a five-run first inning against Travis Smith (3-1).

        Hyzdu, who had only seven career homers before the series, added another three-run drive in the fifth off reliever Dave Veres.

        “Maybe I'm finally getting rewarded for a lot of hard work,” Hyzdu said. “I almost had to look up and say, "Is this real?”'

        So far in the three-game series, the Pirates have outscored the Cardinals 27-15 with Hyzdu going 7-for-10, including a grand slam Friday in a 12-9 victory. He had five consecutive hits over two games before popping up in the seventh, then hit an RBI single in the eighth.

        Hyzdu had four seasons of 23 or more homers in the minors and was so popular at Double-A Altoona they gave away his bobblehead dolls and retired his number. But amid questions about his bat speed and ability to hit breaking balls, he's never won a regular job in the majors.

        “He's one of those guys who's always on the bubble,” Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. “He needs to keep plugging away and find a niche.”

        Losers of 14 of 17 to St. Louis last season, the Pirates have won five of eight from the NL Central leader this season and are 8-2 overall since the All-Star break.

        “Go talk to the Pirates. They had most of the fun,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “What can you say? We got beat up pretty good. We got our rears kicked two days in a row. What can I say?”

        Remarkably, the Pirates don't have an RBI in the series from Brian Giles, who has carried the offense nearly all season.

        “But they have some guys over there who can swing the bats and they're hot right now,” Cardinals second baseman Fernando Vina said. “The Pirates have been playing great since the break. We scored 15 runs in two games and we lost both of them.”

        With the newly acquired Chuck Finley set to make his Cardinals debut Sunday, a St. Louis starter was rocked for the second straight night. Smith didn't have much better luck than Bud Smith the night before, allowing seven runs and eight hits in three innings.

        “It was a bad start, we were behind from the get-go and it was my fault,” Travis Smith said.

        Rob Mackowiak, who hit a game-winning two-run homer off Veres on Friday, and Kevin Young had run-scoring singles in the first ahead of Hyzdu's drive to right.

        Pokey Reese and winning pitcher Kris Benson added RBI singles in the third, making it 7-0 before Smith was lifted.

        Given the big lead, Benson (3-4) won his third straight decision since dropping four in a row to begin his comeback from reconstructive elbow surgery. Still on a 100-pitch limit, he left after throwing 92 pitches in five innings, giving up eight hits but only one run.

        The Pirates have won each of Benson's last five starts after losing six of his first eight.

        The Cardinals had three homers: J.D. Drew's solo drive off Benson in the fourth, Tino Martinez's two-run shot in the seventh off Ron Villone and Eli Marrero's two-run homer in the eighth off Josias Manzanillo.

        Drew's drive broke six light bulbs on a Pepsi advertising bottle above the right-field stands.

        Notes: Veres has allowed two game-winning homers and eight runs in his last three appearances. ... Bud Smith gave up nine hits and eight runs in 4 2-3 innings Friday and was demoted to Triple-A Memphis. ... Hyzdu has 10 homers in 122 career at-bats, including another two-homer game against Cincinnati last season. ... Hyzdu's only mistake was nearly running over Giles as they converged on a flyball in the seventh. ... Pirates SS Jack Wilson, diving to his left, speared Placido Polanco's grounder with his gloved hand, and, in the same motion, flipped it to Reese at second base to start a double play in the fourth. ... Between them, Villone (two innings, five runs) and Manzanillo (2 2-3 innings, four runs) have yielded nine runs in the series. ... The previous seven-RBI game by a Pirates player was Don Slaught against Cincinnati in 1993. The club record is nine by Johnny Rizzo in 1939.

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