PITTSBURGH -- The Cardinals’ bullpen has been working overtime over the past few games, and it appeared they might be headed to another such night when Dakota Hudson allowed a three-run homer as part of a 28-pitch first inning.

But the right-hander pitched scoreless ball over the next 5 1/3 innings, and his offense picked him up with a pair of homers to propel the Cards to another tight victory, this time a 4-3 win over the Pirates on Tuesday night at PNC Park.

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The Cardinals had just designated Chasen Shreve for assignment before the game to get a fresh arm in Mike Mayers, preparing for the worst-case scenario that Hudson flashed in his first three batters. He allowed a three-ball count to turn into a leadoff single by Adam Frazier, then Bryan Reynolds walked to bring up Starling Marte, who now owns five of the Bucs’ seven homers since the All-Star break after launching one off Hudson into the bullpen area.

Hudson regrouped and pitched to his strengths for a long stretch. It wasn’t easy to put up five blank frames, as he allowed four hits and two walks in that stretch. Hudson loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning, drawing pitching coach Mike Maddux to the mound.

“[He said,] ‘Hey, you’re a ground-ball guy. You can get two outs right here,’” Hudson said. “That was pretty much how it was, and I just went after [Josh Bell] and tried to attack him the best I could.”

For a second straight game, a Cards starter got out of that dangerous situation unscathed, as Hudson struck out Bell on three pitches and coaxed Colin Moran into an inning-ending double play.

“I know [Andrew] Miller got the save, but Maddux took a page out of [Pirates pitching coach] Ray Searage’s coaching manual tonight,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “Two mound visits. One after pitch 26, and he gets out of the first, then runs the reel all the way to the fifth. Then one on pitch 70, with the bases loaded and no outs. And five pitches later, he’s out of it.”

Hudson said he was prepared to live with allowing a run there at the expense of outs, but the strikeout of Bell ended up changing the complexion of the game.

“Even if it’s just one run, try to save as many as I can,” Hudson said. “Getting a strikeout there -- getting 0-2 on him and then getting a strikeout on him -- that was huge. I knew that the next guy is a double-play guy. That’s always my focus in that situation, just trying to manage and execute pitches and minimize the damage.”

Hudson has shown his ability to get stronger as he pitches deeper into games this season. Forty-three of the 58 runs he’s given up in 2019 have come in the first three innings, as he’s racked up a team-high 10 wins. But the length he provided after four of the past six Cardinals starters had failed to pitch five innings -- leading to transaction after transaction for the sake of the bullpen -- was also important in the long term.

“I’m pretty good friends with all the relievers that are here and the ones that are coming up and down,” Hudson said. “I knew we were a little bit short out there, and I tried to get us as deep as I could.”

Though those recent games suggest that St. Louis starters have been lacking, they’ve been stellar at escaping jams since the All-Star break. Over that 12-game span, the rotation has put up an 84.2 percent left-on-base rate, one of the highest marks in the Majors in that span.

“It’s a gutty group,” manager Mike Shildt said. “... What it comes down to, it’s just bearing down and having some guts and trusting your stuff to make quality pitches.”

The Cards have now won nine of their past 12 games and look capable of producing a strong extended stretch like the one they had around this point last season, when they went 26-9 from July 24 to the end of August. The offense has shown its teeth, but even the batters know what effect clutch pitching has had on the run.

“That means our pitching is obviously great,” said Jose Martinez, who knocked in the game-winning run with a solo homer in the fifth inning. “When they’re on, they’re on, and they’re going to come in and try to do their job. … Especially when they’re close games. I think that’s actually going to get us pumped up.”