Lars Nootbaar homered on the first pitch of the game, Nolan Gorman added a three-run shot and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Seattle Mariners 7-3 Sunday to prevent a three-game sweep.

Paul DeJong also went deep in his season debut and Jack Flaherty recovered from early trouble to pitch six solid innings with nine strikeouts for St. Louis.

Gorman’s three-run homer to right-center put the Cardinals up 6-3 in the fourth. He has six home runs and an NL-leading 14 two-out RBIs this season. His tie-breaking drive came after second baseman Kolten Wong failed to catch J.P. Crawford’s throw on a double-play attempt after the shortstop fielded a liner from Paul Goldschmidt.

Jarred Kelenic homered for the second consecutive day and Ty France had a two-run single for Seattle.

Nootbaar connected on the first pitch from Mariners starter Chris Flexen (0-4).

DeJong had three hits, including a solo homer in the seventh, during his first game this season after returning from the injured list.

Flaherty (2-2) fell behind 3-2 in the second, but held the Mariners to one hit over his final 4 1/3 innings. He walked two and threw 104 pitches.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: LHP Jordan Montgomery (2-2, 4.84 ERA) starts Monday in the first of four games at San Francisco. Montgomery gave up career high-tying seven runs and 10 hits in his last appearance, an 8-7 loss to Arizona.