The St. Louis Cardinals kicked off Rivalry Weekend and its I-70 series with the Kansas City Royals with a 5-4 walk-off victory Friday night at Busch Stadium.

The Royals broke through first, with Carter Jensen swatting an RBI double in the fourth. Isaac Collins lifted a sacrifice fly later in the inning to add to the lead.

The Cardinals responded right away, with Jordan Walker crushing a two-run homer to center field to tie it up in the fourth. St. Louis took its first lead of the game in the fifth, with Pedro Pagés hitting a solo home run. Collins knotted the game back up in the sixth with an RBI groundout.

Both starting pitchers posted quality starts, with Michael Wacha and Dustin May each allowing three runs over six innings of work. Neither pitcher factored into the decision.

The game would stay tied heading into extra innings, before Bobby Witt Jr. gave the Royals the lead in the tenth with an RBI double off Ryne Stanek. Alec Burleson answered in the bottom of the tenth, lacing an RBI single to right field.

Yohel Pozo was the hero in the eleventh for the Cardinals, coming off the bench and drilling a pinch-hit, walk-off single for the win. Gordon Graceffo picked up his third win after tossing a scoreless eleventh inning.

The Cardinals improve to 26-18, while The Royals fall to 19-26. The middle game of the series will be held Saturday, with KC sending Noah Cameron to take on Kyle Leahy and the Cardinals. Pregame will begin at 12:30, with first pitch at 1:15 p.m. on KMMO AM 1300.