Greg Bird busted out of his slump with a long home run that began a perfect night at the plate, and Michael Pineda pitched the New York Yankees past the staggering St. Louis Cardinals 9-3 on Sunday for their seventh straight victory.

Aaron Hicks also hit a homer and Aaron Judge was robbed of one by a fan in the bleachers, forcing the young Yankees bopper to settle for an RBI triple. New York chased Adam Wainwright (0-3) in the fifth and finished a three-game sweep that left St. Louis at 3-9, the worst record in the National League and its poorest start since 1988.

His cap cocked to the side, Pineda (2-1) went seven innings in a sharp follow-up to his dominant outing last Monday, when he retired the first 20 Tampa Bay batters and struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings for an 8-1 victory in New York’s home opener.