HOUSTON — Having found a way to get the St. Louis Cardinals offense off the ground with a two-out single in the fifth inning that broke up a bid for perfection, shortstop Masyn Winn came through once again to help his club leave his hometown with their first series sweep since last June.

Batting with the bases loaded and one out in the 10th inning after reliable relief arms JoJo Romero and Riley O’Brien allowed run-producing hits in the eighth inning that erased a 4-1 lead, Winn doubled to the left-field corner to clear the bases and lift the Cardinals to a 7-5 win.

Three-run cushion proved to be crucial in the next half inning as the Houston Astros pushed across a run against Justin Bruihl and had runners on the corners with two outs in the inning. A game after he provided two scoreless innings of relief, Gordon Graceffo secured the win with a one-out save.

The Cardinals (13-8) found themselves in extra innings after Romero gave up a two-out homer in the eighth inning to Yordan Alvarez and allowed the next two batters to reach base before his exit. Called in to try to complete a four-out save, O’Brien allowed both inherited runners to advance a base on a wild pitch and then saw them score on a single from Isaac Paredes.

The runs charged to Romero were the first earned runs on his ERA this season. He entered Sunday’s game with no runs allowed in 11 1/3 innings.

The Cardinals' offense was kept quiet to begin the series finale as Houston starter Mike Burrows fired 4 2/3 perfect innings to open his start. The bid ended on Winn’s single. Burrows’s outing ended five batters later as the Cardinals strung together three hits and two walks for a four-run inning that gave starter Matthew Liberatore a lead before he was lifted from the game following six innings and one run allowed on a sacrifice fly in the third inning.

Winn’s three-run double capped a 5 for 15 weekend back home. The Houston area native drove in seven runs across the three games he got to play in front of friends and family.

A rocky eighth

As one of four qualifying National League relievers with a 0.00 ERA at the start of Sunday, Romero entered the series finale with six holds and a .179 batting average. He began his outing Sunday with much of the same effectiveness.

Romero got Taylor Trammell to ground out on three pitches to start the inning. A 1-1 sweeper to Carlos Correa resulted in a sharply hit lineout to left field.

Romero got Alvarez in a 1-2 count three pitches into the at-bat, but could not put him away on the next three pitches. The seventh pitch, a changeup thrown low and in, was driven to right field for Alvarez’s 10th homer of the year.

The lefty allowed a single to Jose Altuve in the next at-bat and had hit outing end on a 10-pitch walk to Christian Walker following Altuve’s single.

Breaking through vs. Burrows

A Cardinals lineup that began their six-game road trip with five home runs and 16 runs combined in their first two games played in Houston took until their 15th at-bat on Sunday to put a runner on base vs. the Astros' starter. When it finally broke through, it burst for a big inning.

After Burrows began his outing with 4 2/3 perfect innings, Winn worked a six-pitch at-bat that ended with a single to break up the righty’s bid at perfection. What followed was a series of at-bats that did just enough to keep the lineup moving.

Nathan Church drew a walk on five pitches. A ball that trickled to third base allowed Pedro Pages to reach first and loaded the bases. No. 9 hitter Victor Scott II took six pitches to earn a bases-loaded walk to bring in the Cardinals’ first run.

The production continued on JJ Wetherholt’s single that plated two runs behind Scott's walk and chased Burrows from his start after 4 2/3 innings and 87 pitches.

Ivan Herrera kept the Cardinals moving by welcoming lefty Steven Okert to the game with an RBI single on an 0-2 slider Okert threw knee-high.

Holding down the hot corner

With momentum on their side following a gritty top of the fifth inning, Liberatore contained the Astros in the bottom half of the frame when runners reached first and second base. Help at third base from Nolan Gorman helped do the trick.

Liberatore allowed a leadoff double to Yainer Diaz and a two-out walk to Correas to put two runners on for Alvarez. Liberatore got ahead of Alvarez, 1-2, with a swing-and-miss on his slider and a 95-mph fastball he landed at the bottom of the strike zone. He invited Alvarez to chase a slider and got him to do so, leading to a bouncing ground ball destined to trickle into left field with Winn positioned closer to the second base bag at the start of the at-bat.

Ranging to his left, Gorman made a diving stop of Alvarez’s grounder and delivered a throw to first base from one knee that was picked by first baseman Alec Burleson for the inning-ending out.

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