Franquelis Osoria, the Pirates' worst reliever this season, gave up four runs while recording just one out in the seventh inning of a 11-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals this afternoon before 21,052 at PNC Park.

The Pirates, who dropped two of three in the series and went 4-3 on the homestand, will go into the All-Star break 44-50 and fifth in the Central Division.

The Cardinals finished with 15 hits, giving them 50 for the series, as well as 28 runs. Troy Glaus went 10 for 13 with two home runs and reached base safely 13 times.

"We need to pitch better, bottom line," manager John Russell said. "The offense has been there all year, but we haven't pitched."

After the game, the Pirates optioned reliever Romulo Sanchez back to Class AAA Indianapolis. He made two appearances since his June 29 recall and was held back the past few days because of minor elbow trouble.

There will be no corresponding move until after the break.

Ian Snell had a so-so start, his second off the disabled list, giving up four runs in five innings. All of that damage came after two outs in the fourth inning, on back-to-back doubles, a walk and Aaron Miles' three-run home run. It was Miles' second home run all season.

The bright side: He struck out six and continued to show good stuff.

"I felt good, especially the fastball and curve, which is pretty much all I threw," Snell said.

Of giving up the home run to the 5-foot-8 Miles, who belted a high-and-tight fastball, Snell laughed and said, "The pitch was higher than him. But he really swung out of his shoes. I didn't realize he had that much power ... One bad pitch to the little man, and he hit it out."

That gave St. Louis a 4-1 lead, but the Pirates customarily came back: They scored three in the fifth on Ryan Doumit's two-out RBI double and Jason Bay's two-run single to tie.

The Cardinals went back ahead, 5-4, in the sixth on an unearned run off Sean Burnett: Second baseman Chris Gomez allowed a double-play ball to get under his glove and, ultimately, the lead runner scored on a groundout.

The Pirates answered again in the bottom half, as Gomez atoned for his error with a two-run double into the North Side Notch, and the lead was theirs again, 6-5. Among the hits in that inning was a Burnett double, his first major league hit.

But Osoria took the ball in the seventh and failed to retire any of his first four batters: Ryan Ludwick singled, Albert Pujols was hit by a pitch, Glaus doubled in a run, and Chris Duncan singled in another. After one out, Miles' triple to deep center brought his fourth and fifth RBIs.

St. Louis was ahead, 9-6, and Osoria was booed off the field after Russell took the ball from him.

Osoria, making his second appearance since coming off the disabled list because of heel pain, has been scored upon in 11 of his past 14 appearances and has a 6.58 ERA. Opponents are batting .341 off him.

"I felt good before the inning," Osoria said. "But there were too many runs, too many hits. I don't know what to say."

T.J. Beam relieved and got out of the inning with a flyout to right and Xavier Nady throwing out Miles at home -- after a hard collision with Doumit -- for his 10th assist, leading all outfielders in Major League Baseball.

Ryan Ludwick homered off Beam in the eighth, and Glaus homered off Tyler Yates in the ninth.

More details in tomorrow's Post-Gazette.