ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — JJ Wetherholt launched his second home run of the night, a two-run shot in the eighth inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals completed a dramatic comeback with a 6-5 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in 10 innings on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals, who trailed 5-2 entering the bottom of the eighth, forced extra innings with a run in the ninth before winning it in the tenth before a crowd of 20,772. The game lasted 2 hours, 52 minutes.

The most important sequence of the game unfolded in the late innings, transforming a potential Cleveland road win into a stunning St. Louis walk-off. The Guardians, holding a 5-2 lead after a three-run top of the eighth, were six outs from victory. That cushion evaporated with one swing from Wetherholt in the bottom half. After José Fermín walked, Wetherholt connected off reliever Cade Smith, driving a fly ball over the left-field wall to instantly slash the deficit to 5-4.

Cleveland’s bullpen could not secure the final three outs in the ninth. With two out, shortstop Masyn Winn reached on a fielding error by Guardians second baseman Juan Brito. Pinch-hitter Yohel Pozo then delivered, lacing a double to right field to score Winn and tie the game 5-5.

In the tenth, the Cardinals needed only one batter to bring home the automatic runner. Thomas Saggese, who began the inning at second base, advanced to third on a groundout and scored the winning run on Nathan Church’s sacrifice fly to right field off losing pitcher Tim Herrin.

The win went to Cardinals reliever Riley O’Brien, who worked a perfect top of the tenth, striking out one. He improved to 2-0. Herrin fell to 0-1.

The game began with early power. Cleveland’s José Ramírez staked the Guardians to a quick lead, hammering a solo home run to right field in the first inning off Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy. St. Louis catcher Iván Herrera answered in the bottom half, matching Ramírez with a solo shot of his own to left field.

Cleveland reclaimed the lead in the second when Daniel Schneemann led off the inning with a homer to center, making it 2-1. Wetherholt’s first homer, a solo blast to right-center in the third, knotted the score at 2-2.

The game settled into a pitchers’ duel from there, with Cleveland’s Joey Cantillo and St. Louis’s bullpen keeping the offenses quiet. The stalemate was broken in the eighth. Ramírez sparked the rally with a single, and Kyle Manzardo followed with another. George Valera then ripped a two-run double down the left-field line, scoring Ramírez. After a pitching change, Angel Martínez drove in two more with a double to right, extending the Guardians’ lead to 5-2 and setting the stage for the Cardinals’ late heroics.

Wetherholt finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, his two homers representing the core of the St. Louis offense. For Cleveland, Ramírez went 2-for-4 with the early homer and two runs scored. The Guardians collected nine hits but went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position outside of the eighth inning and stranded six baserunners.

McGreevy delivered a solid start for St. Louis, allowing two runs on four hits over five innings. Cantillo was equally effective for Cleveland, giving up two runs on four hits across five innings with four strikeouts.

The victory evened the three-game series at one win apiece. The Cardinals improved to 9-8 on the season, while the Guardians fell to 10-8. The teams conclude the series Wednesday afternoon.

According to pregame projections, the result was an upset. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a 6-4 Cleveland victory, and its ELO system gave the Guardians a 54.2% probability to win. Cleveland had also been a 1.5-run favorite on the betting spread. The combined 11 runs went over the posted over/under line of 8.5.