PHILADELPHIA (Interstat) — Andrew Painter pitched seven innings of one-run ball and Bryce Harper’s three-run homer keyed a four-run sixth inning as the Philadelphia Phillies rolled past the St. Louis Cardinals 12-3 on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

Painter allowed five hits and an earned run while striking out eight, improving to 3-8 on the season. He worked efficiently, throwing 47 of 83 pitches for strikes and never allowing the Cardinals to string together a rally after the early innings. Quinn Mathews took the loss for St. Louis, falling to 0-2 after a brief outing. The Cardinals’ bullpen combined for 20 strikes, 37 balls and 20 balls in play, while Phillies relievers totaled 11 strikes, 36 balls and 11 balls in play.

The Phillies jumped ahead with three runs in the first inning. Kyle Schwarber walked to start the frame and Trea Turner followed with a single to left. After a strikeout and a flyout, Alec Bohm singled to left, scoring Schwarber and sending Turner to second. Edmundo Sosa then doubled on a sharp line drive to center, driving in both Turner and Bohm to make it 3-0.

Philadelphia added four more in the third. Luis Arraez singled to right and Alec Bohm singled to center. Sosa singled to center to load the bases. Bryan De La Cruz then grounded a single to center, scoring Arraez and Bohm and pushing Sosa to third. J.T. Realmuto followed with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Sosa. Derek Hill doubled on a ground ball to left, scoring De La Cruz to extend the lead to 7-0.

The Cardinals finally got on the board in the sixth. Blaze Jordan doubled to right and moved to third on a flyout. After a popout, Alec Burleson singled to left to score Jordan, cutting the deficit to 7-1.

The Phillies answered decisively in the bottom half. Realmuto doubled to left and Justin Crawford singled to left, putting runners at the corners. Schwarber’s sacrifice fly to right scored Realmuto. Turner then singled to right, moving Crawford to third. That brought up Harper, who launched his 26th homer of the season to right-center, scoring Crawford and Turner and making it 11-1. The three-run blast put the game out of reach.

Schwarber added a solo homer in the eighth, his 38th of the year, to stretch the lead further. St. Louis got a solo homer from JJ Wetherholt in the top of the eighth, his 17th, and a run in the ninth on a triple by Nathan Church and a groundout from José Fermín, accounting for the final margin.

The Phillies finished with 15 hits, with three players recording multiple hits. Bohm went 2 for 4 with an RBI, Sosa was 2 for 4 with two RBIs, and Realmuto was 2 for 3 with an RBI. Schwarber went 2 for 3 with a homer and two RBIs. Harper finished 1 for 4 with his three RBIs. For the Cardinals, Wetherholt went 2 for 4 with a homer and an RBI, while Jimmy Crooks and Nathan Church also had two hits. St. Louis totaled seven hits.

The game took 2:27 and was played before a crowd of 42,218.

Philadelphia’s victory was its second straight in the series, following a 7-6 edge on Friday. The Phillies improved to 74-59, while the Cardinals slipped to 68-67. The Phillies’ win also continued a strong stretch in which they have won four of their last five. St. Louis had come off a 6-7 loss the previous day and has struggled for consistency on the road.

The most important sequence came in the sixth inning. After the Cardinals scored their first run to make it 7-1, the Phillies responded immediately with four runs. The key blow was Harper’s homer, which turned a competitive game into a rout. The inning extended a lead and allowed the Phillies to empty their bench and give work to relievers in lower-leverage situations. Before the sixth, St. Louis had shown some life, but Harper’s blast eliminated any momentum the Cardinals might have carried into the middle innings.

Painter’s performance was the anchor. He gave up a single in the third that led to a brief threat, but he escaped with a groundout. In the fourth, he retired the side in order. He struck out the side in the fifth, mixing a sharp fastball with a breaking ball that kept Cardinals batters off balance. His only real mistake came in the sixth, when Burleson singled home Jordan, but Painter regrouped to strike out Jordan Walker and end the inning.

The Phillies’ bullpen finished the game. José Alvarado pitched the eighth, allowing a solo homer to Wetherholt but striking out one. Chase Shugart pitched the ninth and gave up a run on a triple and a groundout. Alvarado was credited with a hold, though the Phillies did not need a save situation.

The Cardinals used several relievers after Mathews departed, with little success. Ryan Fernandez, Pedro Pagés and others combined to allow the Phillies’ late runs. Pagés, listed as a pitcher but also a catcher, gave up a hit in his inning of work, one of the few bright spots for St. Louis.

Realmuto’s double in the sixth was his 17th of the season. Hill’s double was his fourth. Jordan’s double was his eighth. Church’s triple was his second. The two sac flies for Philadelphia were a key part of their run production, showing an ability to move runners when needed.

The Phillies’ first inning set the tone, with two outs and two strikes when Bohm and Sosa delivered back-to-back hits. The third inning was a continuation of that approach, as the Phillies strung together four consecutive singles to score runs. The fourth inning was quieter, but the offense had already built a substantial lead.

St. Louis never got a runner past third in the first five innings. Painter retired the first two batters in the first on a lineout and a strikeout, then worked around a single in the third. The Cardinals had a chance in the third when Jimmy Crooks singled and Blaze Jordan reached on a groundout, but Iván Herrera grounded into a force out to end the inning.

The Cardinals’ defense made a few solid plays, including a double play in the second inning that ended a Phillies threat with runners on first and second. But the Phillies’ offense was too deep and relentless. Every starter in the Philadelphia lineup reached base at least once, and the bottom of the order contributed as well.

The game also featured a notable defensive shift in the later innings, with several players moving to different positions. Schwarber, who started at designated hitter, played first base in the ninth. Kyle had his usual power display and also came around to score twice. The Phillies’ bench players, including Justin Crawford and Brandon Marsh, saw action in the later innings and contributed at key moments.

The loss overshadowed a solid individual performance from Wetherholt, who homered in the eighth and also singled in the third. He finished the day with two hits and an RBI. Burleson, Walker, Báez and Fermín each had a hit or reached base, but the Cardinals could not sustain any sort of rally against Painter.

The Phillies’ record of 74-59 keeps them in the thick of the playoff race. The Cardinals, at 68-67, are hovering around .500 and need to string together wins to stay in contention.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Philadelphia 7, St. Louis 6, while its ELO system gave the Phillies a 59.10 percent chance to win. Philadelphia was the pregame favorite at minus-1.5 on the run line. The total of 15 runs scored went under the over/under line of 8.5.