The St Louis Cardinals used timely hitting to outplay the Athletics with a 5-1 win Wednesday, Sept. 3 at Busch Stadium, winning the final two games in the series.

Willson Contreras brought the first two runs home in the third with a single. Contreras attempted to stretch the play into a double as Iván Herrera beat the throw home, but was tagged out on the ensuing relay back to second. Nolan Gorman added to the Cardinals lead in the seventh with a solo home run. Nick Kurtz provided the Athletics’ only run with a solo shot to left field in the eighth. They had a chance to take the lead later in the inning with runners on first and third with one out, but JoJo Romero struck Zack Gelof out, and got Darell Hernaiz to ground out, with the throw to Contreras beating Hernaiz to first. Contreras would pad the Cardinals’ lead in the bottom of the eighth, plating Masyn Winn and Lars Nootbaar with a two-out triple.

Matthew Liberatore claimed the win with seven strikeouts in 5.1 innings, allowing four hits and one walk but no runs. Romero went 1.2 innings for his seventh save of the year, allowing a pair of hits but fanning one.

The Cardinals improve to 70-71, and will have Thursday off before welcoming San Francisco for a three-game series beginning Friday night.