ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — Lars Nootbaar’s pinch-hit, two-run homer in the eighth inning lifted the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium III, snapping a 5-5 tie and sending the Cardinals to their second straight win in the three-game series.

Nootbaar, batting for pitcher Gordon Graceffo, drove a 1-0 pitch from Reds reliever Tejay Antone over the right-center field wall, scoring José Fermín, who had led off the inning with a single. The home run was Nootbaar’s first of the season and turned a tie game into a one-run Cardinals lead that closer Riley O’Brien protected in the ninth.

The decisive moment came after the Reds had rallied from an early three-run deficit. Cincinnati tied the game in the third inning and took the lead in the fourth on a two-run home run by shortstop Matt McLain. St. Louis answered with a solo homer from Jordan Walker in the fifth, but the Cardinals could not reclaim the advantage until Nootbaar’s blast.

The Cardinals struck first with a three-run second inning against Reds starter Nick Lodolo. Singles by Alec Burleson, José Fermín and Bryan Torres loaded the bases with no outs. After a flyout, Victor Scott II singled to right to score Burleson. Masyn Winn followed with a two-run single to center, putting St. Louis ahead 3-0. The rally ended when Iván Herrera grounded into a double play.

Cincinnati responded in the third. Noelvi Marte and Matt McLain walked to start the inning, and after a popout, Dane Myers bunted for a single to load the bases. JJ Bleday then reached on a fielding error by first baseman Alec Burleson that allowed Marte and McLain to score, and Myers advanced to third. Spencer Steer followed with a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Myers and tying the game at 3-3.

The Reds took the lead in the fourth. Blake Dunn singled sharply to center off Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore. After a strikeout, McLain hit his sixth home run of the season, a fly ball to left field that scored Dunn and gave Cincinnati a 5-3 advantage.

St. Louis trimmed the lead to one in the fifth when Walker hit his 16th home run of the year, a solo shot to right center off Lodolo. But the Cardinals could not tie the game until the eighth.

Cincinnati had chances to add insurance but was thwarted by Cardinals relievers. In the sixth, the Reds put runners on first and second with no outs, but Gordon Graceffo induced a force out and a double play to end the inning. Graceffo pitched 1⅔ innings of scoreless relief, allowing two hits and striking out one.

The Cardinals’ bullpen continued to keep the game close. Matthew Liberatore started and went 4⅓ innings, allowing four runs on four hits with four strikeouts and four walks. George Soriano, who entered in the seventh, pitched a scoreless inning and earned the win, improving to 3-0. Riley O’Brien recorded his 16th save, working a tense ninth inning in which he allowed two hits but struck out one and stranded runners at first and second.

Cincinnati used six pitchers. Nick Lodolo took a no-decision after allowing four runs on nine hits over five innings, striking out three. Tejay Antone pitched 1⅔ innings of scoreless relief, allowing one hit and striking out two, but he was charged with the two runs in the eighth on Nootbaar’s homer. Sam Moll, who entered in the seventh, retired only one batter and took the loss, falling to 1-4.

The Reds finished with nine hits, led by Blake Dunn who went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Matt McLain was 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Dane Myers also had two hits. For the Cardinals, Jordan Walker was 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI, while José Fermín had three hits and scored two runs.

Defensively, St. Louis turned two double plays, one of which erased a potential Reds rally in the sixth. Cincinnati grounded into two double plays as well.

The attendance was 26,904, and the game lasted 2 hours, 53 minutes.

The win improved St. Louis to 34-28, while Cincinnati dropped to 31-32. The Cardinals have now won two of the three head-to-head meetings this season, following a 10-3 victory on Friday. The series concludes Sunday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Cincinnati 5, St. Louis 3. Interstat’s ELO system had given St. Louis a 54.70 percent probability to win. St. Louis was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 11 runs went under the over-under line of 9.5.