ST. LOUIS (Interstat) — Rhett Lowder turned in a bounce-back performance and the Cincinnati Reds got a go-ahead two-run homer from Eugenio Suárez in the seventh inning to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 on Friday night at Busch Stadium III.

Lowder, who had allowed eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings in his previous start, limited the Cardinals to one hit over five innings. He struck out four and walked two but was charged with two runs after a two-run double by Blaze Jordan in the fifth inning. The 23-year-old right-hander entered the game with a 1-6 record and an 8.71 ERA, but he gave his team a chance to win in a tight division rivalry matchup.

The Reds snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 48-54. The Cardinals fell to 52-51, losing for the fourth time in five games.

Cincinnati finished with 11 hits, while St. Louis managed just two. The Reds scored once in the fourth, twice in the seventh and once in the ninth. The Cardinals scored both of their runs in the fifth.

Julian Garcia earned the win with one-third of an inning of relief, improving to 1-2. Emilio Pagán pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts for his 10th save. George Soriano took the loss for St. Louis, falling to 3-3 after allowing two runs in one inning of work.

Dustin May started for the Cardinals and pitched six strong innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits with eight strikeouts. He left with a 2-1 lead, but the bullpen could not hold it.

Lowder pitched around trouble in the first inning, stranding a walk. He retired the side in order in the second and third before walking JJ Wetherholt to start the fourth. A double play erased the baserunner, and Alec Burleson struck out to end the inning.

In the fourth, Cincinnati broke through against May. JJ Bleday led off with a single, and after two outs, Spencer Steer walked. Tyler Stephenson then hit a ground-rule double to right field, scoring Bleday and sending Steer to third. Dane Myers grounded out to end the inning with the Reds ahead 1-0.

The Cardinals answered in the fifth. Iván Herrera was hit by a pitch to lead off, and after Lars Nootbaar flied out, Masyn Winn grounded out, moving Herrera to third. Nathan Church walked, bringing up Jordan. The Cardinals third baseman hit a sharp line drive to left field that skipped past Bleday for a double, scoring both Herrera and Church to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead.

Lowder then got Jimmy Crooks to ground out to end the inning. He was replaced by Tejay Antone to start the sixth.

Antone worked a scoreless sixth, allowing one hit while striking out one. Brock Burke pitched a perfect seventh with one strikeout. Caleb Ferguson followed with two-thirds of a scoreless inning, allowing no hits.

The Reds regained the lead in the seventh. After Elly De La Cruz lined out, Sal Stewart singled. Bleday struck out, bringing up Suárez, who crushed a 1-2 pitch from Soriano to left-center field for his 14th home run, driving in Stewart and giving Cincinnati a 3-2 lead.

Nathaniel Lowe followed with a single, but Steer grounded into a forceout to end the inning.

Cincinnati added an insurance run in the ninth. De La Cruz walked to lead off against Luis Gastelum. Stewart lined a single to left, scoring De La Cruz, who raced around from first to make it 4-2.

The Cardinals threatened in the eighth when Jimmy Crooks hit a leadoff double against Ferguson, but Wetherholt struck out and Jordan Walker popped out. In the ninth, Pagán set down Burleson, Herrera and Nootbaar in order to close the game.

The top star for Cincinnati was Lowder, who rebounded from a disastrous outing July 18 at Colorado, when he allowed eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. He also had a scoreless two-inning appearance July 12 against the Chicago Cubs, but that was in a loss.

Suárez finished 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. Stewart also had two hits, including the ninth-inning single that drove in the final run.

For St. Louis, Jordan had the only multi-RBI hit, a two-run double. May’s strong start kept the Cardinals in the game, but the bullpen could not preserve the lead.

Ryne Stanek pitched a scoreless eighth inning for St. Louis, striking out two.

The attendance was 29,900. The game lasted 2 hours, 34 minutes.

The Reds continue their road trip with the second game of the series Saturday at St. Louis. The Cardinals look to even the series before a three-game home set against the Chicago Cubs beginning Monday.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Cincinnati Reds 5, St. Louis Cardinals 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave St. Louis a 55.70 percent probability to win. St. Louis was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 6 went over the over/under line of 8.5.