Cardinals ace Sonny Gray took advantage of an early lead to retire the first 20 batters he faced, carrying St Louis to a 5-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium and achieving a series sweep.

The Cardinals plated three in the first, with RBI singles for Alec Burleson and Matt Carpenter, along with a ground-rule double for Brendan Donovan. Burleson added another RBI single in the second. Gray was perfect through 6.2 innings before Patrick Bailey drove his sixth home run of the year over the right-field fence. Gray struck out Jorge Soler to collect his eighth and final strikeout of the day. The Giants threatened with two runs in the eighth, but Brandon Crawford added an insurance run in the eighth. Ryan Helsley claimed his 26th consecutive save of the season, striking out two of the three batters he faced.

The Cardinals improve to 39-37, five games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central. The home stand continues Monday evening as Atlanta arrives for the start of a three-game series. First pitch is at 6:45.