The St Louis Cardinals overtook the Tampa Bay Rays early, but were unable to hold onto the lead as the Cardinals dropped the last match in the home series 6-4 on Thursday night.

The runs came early, as former Cardinal Dylan Carlson reacquainted himself with Busch Stadium by way of a two-run RBI single in the first. The Cardinals responded with RBIs off a single, double, and groundout, then added a run off Paul Goldschmidt’s bat in the third. The Rays struck back in the seventh with a sacrifice fly, then a two-run home run by Brandon Lowe. They would pad the lead in the ninth with an RBI single.

JoJo Romero gave up the home run in the seventh to record the loss and his sixth blown save of the season. The home run was the only hit he allowed in 1.1 innings of work. Kyle Gibson’s six innings featured two earned runs, eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

The Cardinals are now 59-57 and second in the NL Central, seven games behind Milwaukee. They’re 2.5 games behind the Mets in the wild card chase.

It’s a drive down I-70 as two games await the Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium against the Royals. Pregame from the Royals Radio Network is at 6:30 on KMMO-FM 102.9, with first pitch at 7:10.