"With no leeway to squander any edge they can find, the Cardinals got another superb start from Braden Looper only to lose it in a lackluster performance that has become habit at home.

Pittsburgh starter Ian Snell trumped Looper's seven stout innings with seven shutout innings in the Pirates' 4-1 victory Tuesday at Busch Stadium. Snell struck out eight and sent the Cardinals toward their eighth loss in 11 games at home, this one coming in front of 39,502, the smallest crowd since the Pirates visited in May.

Looper held the Pirates to one run, scored in the first inning, only to see it stand as the difference until both starters were out of the game and the ninth unraveled. Looper's fifth consecutive seven-inning gem was only the largest of a handful of advantages that slithered through the Cardinals' grasp all the through the final out, when Brian Barton struck out with the bases loaded in the ninth.

"It's a game we had a chance to win as a team," said Looper (11-10). "I make one more pitch, or a one guy gets one more hit, and it's a different story. … We need to win that game. These games are really starting to matter and we need to win games like that."

The Cardinals returned to Busch Stadium having stayed in the wild-card chase with six wins on a 10-game trip. Welcoming them home were the Pirates, who sported the league's worst team ERA and the division's worst record on the road. The Cardinals countered Snell, whom they had seen and hit hard four times already this season, with Looper, one of the league's best starters in the past month.

Toss in Milwaukee's loss to Houston and a chance to gain ground on the wild-card leading Brewers, and advantages abound.

Home just hasn't been where that's happening.

"You don't want to miss any opportunity, now now, not when your starter gives you seven or eight innings like (Looper) did," said third baseman Troy Glaus. "I don't care if you're playing on Mars, you don't want to miss when your starter gives you innings like that."

For the fifth consecutive game, Looper pitched seven innings and did not allow more than two runs. With the first of his three hits Tuesday, Pittsburgh catcher Ryan Doumit doubled in Jack Wilson for a 1-0 lead against Looper. That was three batters into the game. Looper retired 19 of the next 21 Pirates he faced after Doumit's double.

Snell matched him inning for inning, just one zero better.

The righthander entered Tuesday's start with an ERA on the road of 7.83 and an ERA only slightly more garish against the Cardinals in four starts already this season. Snell had allowed as many runs to the Cardinals this season (19) as innings pitched (19), and the Cardinals were averaging more than two runners per inning against the one-time budding ace. On Tuesday, the Cardinals struggled to even muster one runner in any inning against Snell.

They got only two runners into scoring position against Snell, and in the four"