ST. LOUIS — After the Cardinals capitalized on a pair of Guardians fielding mistakes to send them into extra innings, they made the most of a third one to secure a walk-off win Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.

Down 5-4 in the ninth inning after rookie JJ Wetherholt hit a two-run homer to bring them within one run, Yohel Pozo’s double to right field plated Masyn Winn from second base after he reached on an error and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch.

And in the ninth, with the automatic baserunner Thomas Saggese on third base following a first-pitch curveball from Tim Herin that slipped away for a wild pitch, Nathan Church delivered a fly ball deep enough for Saggese to tag up and beat the throw home in a 6-5 walk-off win.

The comeback effort wiped a 5-2 deficit the Cardinals found themselves in after Ryne Stanek allowed three runs in 2/3 innings of work in the eighth.

The Cardinals entered the bottom of the eighth inning down a run after the Guardians scored three runs to break a 2-2 tie that was formed in the fourth inning when the teams matched one another's solo home runs.

The Cardinals had their power surge from Ivan Herrera, which was his first of the season, and a solo homer in the third from the rookie Wetherholt. Both homers came against Cleveland starter Joey Cantillo, who kept the Cardinals limited to two runs, five hits and two walks in six innings.

Herrera and Wetherholt’s blasts matched the two Ramirez and Daniel Schneemann hit off Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy. McGreevy provided five innings and worked around four hits and a walk to keep Cleveland to two runs. The righty showed increased velocity in his fastball, which averaged 92.1 mph, a 1.4 mph average increase from what it averaged in his first three starts.

A rookie’s eventful night

Wetherholt’s Tuesday performance included more than powering three Cardinals runs with two swings; the rookie also showed some dazzling defense and was involved in a baserunning error that prevented Jordan Walker from batting with runners on.

After the solo homer in the third inning, Wetherholt went full extension on a leaping grab at second base that took away a potential hit from Brayan Rocchio. Wetherholt, the National League’s leader in Outs Above Average entering Tuesday, left his feet to snag a line drive Rocchio hit with a 104-mph exit velocity.

In the sixth inning, Wetherholt reached second base as a potential go-ahead run in a 2-2 game but he was doubled up after Schneemann made a diving grab on a sinking line drive off the bat of Alec Burleson.

Looking to be aggressive on the liner, Wetherholt had begun to break towards third base with the thought it’d fall for a hit. He could not retreat to the bag in time before Schneemann's throw arrived. The double play ended the inning and kept Walker on deck.

Two out trouble

On both homers he gave up through the first two innings of his outing, McGreevy was one pitch away from ending a scoreless frame.

In the first inning, McGreevy retired the first two batters he faced on 11 pitches and got Jose Ramirez into an 0-2 by firing a fastball for a strike and throwing a cutter the perennial All-Star fouled off. After Ramirez evened the count by fouling off a pair of pitches and taking another two for balls, McGreevy reached back for his fastball. The righty’s 93.6-mph fastball was left at the top of the strike zone and swatted to right field for Ramirez’s third homer of the season.

An inning later, McGreevy got two out on eight pitches and got ahead of Schneemann with a first-pitch cutter that landed for an inside strike. But like his first encounter with Ramirez, an elevated fastball hurt McGreevy.

The 25-year-old offered Schneemann a 92.3-mph fastball left near the top of the strike zone. Schneemann drove the pitch 424 feet to center field for a 2-1 score.

Breaking the drought

Having gone 57 at-bats without a home run to begin the season, Herrera snapped that streak with his first at-bat on Tuesday.

His team already down a run, Herrera lifted a 2-2 change-up from Cantillo to left field for a solo home run that traveled 401 feet.

Entering Tuesday, Herrera owned a .193 batting average and had six RBIs as the Cardinals’ primary No. 2 hitter. His .365 on-base percentage through 16 games was buoyed by the 25-year-old’s 18.9% walk rate, which ranked 11th in the majors before his start at catcher against Cleveland.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said before the win that Herrera didn’t feel like he was in a “groove” to the point where he’s taking his “A” swing often enough. The third swing he took provided an example of the direction he could be headed in.

Infield cuts down run

In a game tied at two runs apiece, the Cardinals’ alignment to bring the infield when Kyle Manzardo reached third base in the fourth inning helped prevent a run from scoring after an awkward play in center field from Victor Scott II.

On a deep fly ball from Manzardo, Scott retreated towards the warning track in center field and appeared to be in the process of camping under the fly ball near the cut of the grass but cut back and had to play the ball off after it kept carrying.

The misplay allowed Manzardo to reach second base to lead off the inning. A groundout by George Valera in the at-bat that followed advanced him to third base and drew the Cardinals’ infield in with a ground-ball hurler in McGreevy on the mound.

The decision paid off when Angel Martinez grounded a ball to Ramon Urias, who delivered an accurate throw to Herrera to record the out.

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