ST. LOUIS -- Chris Archer flung fastballs and sliders past the Cardinals’ bats like the dominant starter he believes he can still be. Josh Bell bashed a pair of doubles like the All-Star slugger he was before his midseason slump. But their individual performances couldn’t slow the Pirates’ collective freefall on Friday night at Busch Stadium.

Archer put together another strong start and Bell scored a pair of early runs, leaving the game tied heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. But right-hander Richard Rodríguez -- who had been all but invincible for more than two months -- gave up four runs and the Bucs lost their sixth straight game, 6-2, to the Cardinals.

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Pittsburgh is 4-22 since the All-Star break, a 26-game stretch that ranks as the club’s worst since 2009. The Pirates are now 19 games below .500 for the first time in Clint Hurdle’s nine-year tenure as manager.

The Pirates have endured their share of frustrating losses during this stretch. This one certainly qualified, given what they saw during the first 7 1/2 innings -- especially from Archer and Bell -- and the unexpected blowup by Rodriguez.

“It was a tough baseball game, for sure, but that’s part of it. I think we’re going to be stronger for it in the long run,” Bell said. “We’ve got a good core group of guys here that are going to be here for a long time. We’re just trying to come together in this tough time and hopefully be stronger for it.”

The Cardinals snapped a 2-2 tie against Rodriguez, who had only allowed one run since June 1 and hadn’t given up a home run since May 30. He had the Majors’ lowest ERA (0.35) since June 1. Even a brief trip to the Dominican Republic while on paternity leave didn’t stop his streak of excellence -- but the Cardinals found a way on Friday.

With one out and Dexter Fowler on second base, Paul Goldschmidt slapped a ground ball to the left side of the infield. Shortstop Kevin Newman dropped to his knees and tried to make a backhanded stop, but the ball skipped past him and into left field for an RBI single.

Marcell Ozuna then bashed a 3-1 fastball out to left for a two-run homer. Left fielder Jose Osuna slipped and fell while chasing after Paul DeJong’s fly ball to left. DeJong wheeled around to third on the error and scored easily on Matt Carpenter’s sacrifice fly to finish the Cards’ four-run inning.

“It’s tough,” Hurdle said. “There were a lot of good things that happened tonight. We didn’t win a game. That’s the goal to start.”

The Pirates have lost each of Archer’s six starts since the All-Star break, but he was hardly at fault for this one. The veteran right-hander did his part, permitting only two runs while striking out nine without a walk over six innings. In his last two starts, Archer has worked 12 innings while allowing three runs and striking out 15.

Archer ramped his fastball velocity up to 97 mph, snapped off 38 sliders and filled up the strike zone with both pitches when necessary. Without citing a reason, Archer said he can tell a difference in the way he’s felt physically as of late compared to earlier in the season. It’s worth noting, perhaps, that Archer had hernia surgery last November and missed time in early May due to right thumb inflammation.

“When your body feels good, you can trust your stuff. If there is any doubt in how your body feels, then there’s a little lack of trust,” Archer said. “Obviously no excuse. Guys are out there with nicks and bruises. We all have to pitch through it. But I feel a lot better standing on that mound when my body feels good.”

His night got off to an inauspicious start, as the Cardinals loaded the bases with three straight singles on Archer’s first four pitches of the game. But he buckled down, trading a run for two outs on Ozuna’s double-play grounder, then striking out DeJong to end the inning. The Cards’ only other run against Archer came in the fourth, when Matt Carpenter reached on a two-out double and scored after a pair of infield singles.

“He made some really good pitches,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “We struck out a few times, and a lot of that had to do with him having good stuff tonight. He beared down and was pretty sharp."

Bell scored both of the Pirates’ runs after ripping doubles in each of his first two at-bats -- the first with an exit velocity of 113.6 mph, the second at 109.8 mph. He scored the Bucs’ first run on Osuna’s sacrifice fly to left and the second on Colin Moran’s sac fly to center.

It was an encouraging performance for Bell, especially after Hurdle gave him the last three days off to rest and work his way out of a second-half slump. Bell said he was able to “unplug” during his time off, studying video without worrying about results later that night.

“I wasn’t putting together good at-bats for a while there. I kind of tied [Hurdle’s] hands there for a little bit,” Bell said. “I felt like it was a long time coming. For the most part, hopefully that’s behind me and I can turn the page.”