ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — Andre Pallante pitched six strong innings and Nathan Church drove in a run as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Monday night at Busch Stadium III. The attendance was 22,050 and the game lasted 2 hours, 30 minutes.

The turning point came in the fourth inning, when the Cardinals erased a 1-0 deficit and seized a two-run lead. With the score tied, Lars Nootbaar drew a walk and Masyn Winn singled, putting runners at first and second. Jimmy Crooks grounded out, advancing both runners, and Blaze Jordan lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Nootbaar. Church followed with a line-drive single to left that drove in Winn, giving St. Louis a 3-1 advantage.

Arizona chipped away in the middle innings. Corbin Carroll led off the sixth with a double, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Nolan Arenado’s sharp groundout to shortstop. In the seventh, Tommy Troy launched a solo home run to center field, his third of the season, pulling the Diamondbacks within 3-2. But Cardinals relievers JoJo Romero and Ryne Stanek bridged the gap to Riley O’Brien, who pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 19th save.

Pallante (9-4) allowed two runs on six hits over six-plus innings, striking out two and walking two. He worked out of early trouble in the first inning, when Arizona put a runner on base via a Corbin Carroll single but left him stranded. The Diamondbacks had a chance in the fifth, loading the bases with one out on a hit-by-pitch, a double and a fielder’s choice, but Pallante induced a groundout from Geraldo Perdomo to escape.

Merrill Kelly (5-7) took the loss for Arizona, giving up three runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked two and struck out one. Kelly navigated a jam in the first inning after back-to-back singles by JJ Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera and a walk to Alec Burleson loaded the bases, but Jordan Walker lined out and Nootbaar grounded into a double play to end the threat.

St. Louis struck first in the third inning. Church singled, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Burleson’s single to right field, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. The Diamondbacks tied the game in the fourth, but the Cardinals answered immediately with their two-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth.

Church finished 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored, providing the offensive spark. Wetherholt went 2 for 4 with a single and a double. Burleson drove in a run with his single and also drew a walk. Herrera added a single and a walk. For Arizona, Troy’s home run was the lone extra-base hit besides Carroll’s double. Ketel Marte collected two singles, and Arenado had a pair of singles. The Diamondbacks outhit the Cardinals 8-7 but grounded into two double plays, including a rare 4-6-3-2 twin killing in the third inning.

Arizona fell to 39-39 overall, while St. Louis improved to 42-34. The Diamondbacks had lost two straight games coming in, including a 16-8 defeat Saturday against Minnesota. The Cardinals had dropped two of their last three after a 12-10 win at Kansas City on Sunday.

The two teams continue their three-game series Tuesday night at Busch Stadium. Arizona then travels to Tampa Bay for a weekend set, while St. Louis hosts Miami before heading to Atlanta.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Arizona 5, St. Louis 4, but the Cardinals’ ELO system gave them a 53.60 percent probability to win. St. Louis was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of five runs went over the over/under line of 8.5.