ST. LOUIS (AP) _ Kris Benson overcame a four-walk first inning and Brian Giles and Kevin Young homered on consecutive pitches in the sixth as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-2 Wednesday night.

Benson (2-3) became the first Pittsburgh starter to win two games, working around seven walks and five hits in seven innings. The only damage came on bases-loaded walks to Craig Paquette and J.D. Drew in the first, and he struck out seven.

It was the second straight strong effort after a shaky start to the season for Benson, who quieted a lineup that leads the majors with 59 homers. The Cardinals hit four Tuesday night.

Giles hit his sixth homer off Pat Hentgen (3-3) after Jason Kendall drew a leadoff walk in the sixth to put the Pirates ahead 3-2. Young followed with his fourth homer, giving the Pirates back-to-back homers for the first time this season.

The Cardinals have done it seven times.

Giles also had an RBI single in the seventh off Gene Stechschulte and is 11-for-25 since moving to cleanup eight games ago with two homers and 10 RBIs. Young added an RBI double in the seventh and a third run scored in the inning on a wild pitch.

Center fielder Jim Edmonds, who was 3-for-3, saved a run in the seventh when he leaped above the wall to pull back Wil Cordero's drive. The ball popped out of his glove as he crashed into the wall and Cordero settled for a triple.

Edmonds had the wind knocked out of him and left the game after the inning.

Hentgen has lost his last three starts, allowing 14 earned runs in 18 innings, and hasn't made it past the sixth inning all season. He's allowed three six-inning homers his last two starts and 11 of the 23 runs he's given up have come in that inning.

The Pirates also scored in the first when Kendall, who was 4-for-4 with a walk to end a 1-for-15 slump, doubled with two outs and scored on Young's single.

Notes: The seven walks tied Benson's career worst, also done on Sept. 4, 1999, in a 9-2 loss to San Francisco. ... The last time the Pirates had back-to-back homers the duo was the same, with Giles and Young connecting Sept. 19, 1999, against the Reds. ... Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny has thrown out 14 of 20 basestealers after getting Kendall in the third. ... Edmonds asked for the ball after his third-inning single, hit No. 800 of his career. ... Hentgen, who entered the season 1-for-18 for his career, singled in the first for his third straight hit. The streak ended when he popped out trying to sacrifice in the fourth. ... This is the first time the Cardinals lost when they didn't commit an error. They had been 17-0 when flawless in the field and 0-9 otherwise.