The St Louis Cardinals scored four runs in the fifth inning to win the opening game of their series at the San Francisco Giants on Monday, Sept. 22 by a 6-5 score.

The Giants relied on the bat of Heliot Ramos to stake both their leads in the game. Ramos led off the bottom of the first with a line drive home run to left-center field. The Cardinals tied the game with a single from Alec Burleson in the second, then claimed the lead with José Fermín’s line-drive double with two outs in the fourth. The Giants would retake the lead in the home half of the fourth with a two-RBI single from Ramos, after Patrick Bailey tied the game with a single.

The Cardinals took the lead for good in the fifth, making use of a leadoff single by Lars Nootbaar when Iván Herrera sent a fly ball to center field for his 18th home run of the year. Alec Burleson followed that with a single, and came home on an error on a fielder’s choice. Nolan Arenado would score the final run when Jordan Walker beat the throw to first, preventing a double play. Rafael Devers hit a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth to bring the Giants back within one, but three strikeouts and strong defensive play prevented the Giants from tying the game.

Michael McGreevy went five innings for his eighth win of the season, allowing five runs on six hits with three walks and two strikeouts. JoJo Romero recorded his eighth save of the year. Justin Verlander allowed all six runs, with four earned in 4.1 innings. He allowed nine hits while striking out three but walking two.

The Cardinals (77-80) are tied with the Giants, 3.5 games behind Cincinnati and the Mets for the final wild card spot. Andre Pallante gets the start for St Louis on Tuesday evening, with first pitch at 8:45 p.m.

The Kansas City Royals will spend the last six games of the regular season in the Golden State, beginning Tuesday in Anaheim with a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. Cole Ragans will get the start, with first pitch at 8:38 p.m. Pregame begins at 8 p.m. on KMMO-FM 102.9.