WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Interstat) — Andre Pallante pitched five solid innings, JJ Wetherholt homered and drove in two runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Athletics 6-4 on Tuesday night at Sutter Health Park before an announced crowd of 11,132.

The Cardinals jumped to a four-run first inning and added two more in the sixth, then held off a late Athletics rally to improve to 24-17. fell to 21-20.

Pallante allowed four hits and three earned runs while striking out four to earn his fourth win against three losses. Jeffrey Springs took the loss for Oakland, allowing seven hits and four earned runs over five innings with five strikeouts, falling to 3-3. Riley O’Brien worked a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.

St. Louis sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning against Springs. Wetherholt walked to start the game, and Iván Herrera followed with a single to right field that put runners on the corners. Jordan Walker singled to left, scoring Wetherholt and sending Herrera to second. After Alec Burleson struck out and Masyn Winn popped out, José Fermín doubled to center field, driving in Herrera and Walker. Yohel Pozo then singled to center, scoring Fermín to make it 4-0 before Nathan Church flied out to end the rally.

Oakland answered in the second. With two outs, Darell Hernaiz reached on an infield single that was upheld on a challenge, and Jeff McNeil singled to left. Nick Kurtz singled to center, scoring Hernaiz, and Shea Langeliers followed with a double to left that scored McNeil and Kurtz, cutting the lead to 4-3.

The score remained unchanged until the sixth. With one out, Nolan Gorman singled off Springs. Wetherholt then launched his eighth home run of the season to right field, extending the lead to 6-3.

St. Louis had a chance to add more in the eighth when Wetherholt singled and Herrera reached on a fielder’s choice, but Jordan Walker struck out to end the inning.

Oakland’s Langeliers homered to left in the eighth, his 12th of the season, to make it 6-4. Carlos Cortes followed with a double, but Zack Gelof flied out to end the threat. In the ninth, Lawrence Butler walked with one out, but Jonah Heim grounded into a double play and Jeff McNeil grounded out to O’Brien to seal the win.

Wetherholt finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Fermín went 1 for 3 with two RBIs and a double. Langeliers led the Athletics with a 2-for-4 night that included a home run and three RBIs.

JoJo Romero pitched a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts, and Ryne Stanek worked a perfect eighth for St. Louis. Brooks Kriske threw 1⅔ scoreless innings for Oakland, allowing no hits and striking out one. Scott Barlow tossed ⅔ of an inning with one hit and one strikeout.

The game lasted 2 hours, 54 minutes.

St. Louis had won three of four in a series at San Diego before the off day Monday. The Cardinals entered the game having scored six or more runs in three of their previous four contests. had dropped two of three at Baltimore over the weekend.

The two teams continue the three-game series Wednesday night, then St. Louis returns home to face Kansas City for a weekend set while hosts San Francisco.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of St. Louis 6, 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave a 51.40 percent probability to win, and the Athletics were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5 runs.