PHOENIX (Interstat) — Brandon Pfaadt pitched 5 1/3 solid innings and Nolan Arenado drove in two runs as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 on Saturday evening at Chase Field, snapping a three-game head-to-head losing streak against the Cardinals in front of 38,244 fans.

The game took 2 hours, 44 minutes.

Arizona opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. Gabriel Moreno led off with a single and moved to second on a popout. Arenado singled to left, putting runners at first and second, and after a strikeout, James McCann lined a single to right that scored Moreno to give the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead.

The Diamondbacks broke the game open in the third. Ketel Marte singled to right, and Geraldo Perdomo walked to put two on. Corbin Carroll grounded into a double play, but Marte advanced to third. Moreno singled to left to drive in Marte, making it 2-0. Max Kepler walked, and Arenado followed with a sharp double to left that cleared the bases, scoring Moreno and Kepler to extend the lead to 4-0. Tim Tawa struck out to end the inning.

Arizona added another run in the fourth. Ryan Waldschmidt doubled to center and scored on Marte’s single to left, pushing the margin to 5-0.

St. Louis finally got on the board in the sixth inning against Pfaadt. JJ Wetherholt singled, and Alec Burleson singled to right, putting runners at first and second. Jordan Walker singled to center, scoring Wetherholt to make it 5-1. Lars Nootbaar then singled to right, loading the bases. Masyn Winn grounded into a force out at second, but Burleson scored on the play, cutting the deficit to 5-2. Nathan Church popped out to end the inning and Pfaadt’s night.

Pfaadt (4-1) allowed two earned runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking two. He earned his third consecutive winning decision, following victories over the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in his previous two starts.

The Cardinals put together another threat in the seventh. Jose Fermin walked, and after a lineout, Wetherholt singled to put runners at first and second. But Kevin Ginkel, who relieved Pfaadt, struck out Ivan Herrera and got Burleson to line out to right to end the inning.

Arizona’s bullpen held St. Louis scoreless in the eighth. Ryan Thompson worked a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout, and Ginkel combined for a clean frame.

St. Louis made one final push in the ninth against Paul Sewald. With one out, Jimmy Crooks, who had entered the game as a pinch hitter, launched a solo home run to right-center field, his third of the season, cutting the lead to 5-3. Sewald then struck out Wetherholt and got Herrera to line out to right to secure his 23rd save of the season.

Dustin May (5-7) took the loss for St. Louis. He allowed five runs on eight hits over four innings, walking four and striking out six.

Arenado finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a double. Marte went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Moreno added two hits and an RBI. For St. Louis, Wetherholt had two hits and Crooks delivered the pinch-hit homer.

The Cardinals, now 51-46, had won the series opener Friday afternoon 5-4, but could not complete the back-to-back wins. The Diamondbacks improved to 50-48.

St. Louis’s Gordon Graceffo, Matt Svanson and Justin Bruihl each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, combining for three hitless innings with two strikeouts. For Arizona, Kevin Ginkel, Brandyn Garcia and Ryan Thompson each turned in scoreless outings.

The game featured eight hits for both teams. St. Louis stranded nine runners, while Arizona left eight on base.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Arizona 6, St. Louis 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Arizona a 53.60 percent probability to win. St. Louis had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of eight went over the over/under line of nine.