(Sports Network) - The St. Louis Cardinals shoot for season-best five straight wins when they continue a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight at PNC Park.

St. Louis posted its fourth consecutive victory with Tuesday's 6-4 win over the Pirates in the series opener, with starting pitcher Adam Wainwright carrying the load with six strong innings on the hill.

Wainwright allowed two runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and a walk for the Cardinals, who are 5 1/2 games off the National League wild card lead and six games behind Milwaukee for the top spot in the NL Central division.

Yadier Molina drove in two runs and Scott Rolen added two hits and two runs scored in the win. Rolen is 8-for-18 (.444) with seven runs and four RBI in his last six games for St. Louis, which has not won five games in a row since ripping off seven straight victories from July 7-16 of last season.

In trade news for the Cardinals, the team acquired right-hander Joel Pineiro and cash considerations from the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday in exchange for a minor league player to be named later.

Braden Looper gets the nod for St. Louis tonight and is 8-8 with a 4.85 ERA in 19 starts this season.

Looper is just 2-5 over his last nine starts, but recorded the win in his previous outing on Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. Looper allowed just one run in seven strong innings of an 11-1 bashing of the Cubs.

The right-hander is 2-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 25 career games (two starts) against the Pirates. Looper is 2-0 with a 0.69 earned run average in two starts against Pittsburgh this season.

Getting the call for the Pirates this evening will be Tony Armas, who is 0-3 with a 6.93 ERA in 20 games (seven starts) this season.

Armas last started on May 17 against Florida, allowing a pair of runs in three innings of a 7-2 win over the Marlins. He previously took the hill in relief on Friday against Philadelphia and yielded one run over 1 2/3 innings of work.

In six career games (five starts) against St. Louis, the right-hander is 1-2 with a 4.94 earned run average.

Pittsburgh has dropped four straight contests and is a lowly 2-14 since the All-Star break. Last night Ryan Doumit homered and Jason Bay finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Jack Wilson notched two RBI in the loss, which left the Buccos 14 games off the pace in the National League wild card race.

Starter Paul Maholm absorbed the loss despite pitching six decent innings. Maholm allowed three runs -- two earned -- on six hits with three strikeouts.

The Pirates improved their pitching staff on Tuesday's trade deadline, acquiring starting right-hander Matt Morris from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for outfielder Rajai Davis.

St. Louis is 7-2 against Pittsburgh this season, including a three-game sweep in the Steel City from April 9-11. The Cardinals are 40-17 in the series since the start of the 2004 campaign.