Oh Seung-hwan of the St. Louis Cardinals has picked up his first save of the 2017 season.

Oh gave up an earned run in a shaky ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates but still preserved a 2-1 win at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Monday.

Working on a 2-0 lead, Oh got David Freese to fly out to center to open the ninth inning but gave up a single to Josh Bell.

Francisco Cervelli grounded out back to the pitcher. An out away from a scoreless inning, Oh then gave up a pinch-hit double to Gregory Polanco as the Pirates cut the deficit in half.

The South Korean right-hander avoided further damage as John Jaso grounded out to first.

Oh blew a save in his first outing of the season on April 2 against the Chicago Cubs and then allowed an earned run in each of his next two outings.

The right-hander finally had a scoreless appearance against the Washington Nationals last Wednesday but gave up his sixth earned run of the season already in his latest game.

Oh sports an ugly 9.53 ERA after 5 2/3 innings. He had a 1.92 ERA in 79 2/3 innings last year, along with 19 saves. (Yonhap)