ST. LOUIS -- Lance Lynn thought he was leaving a bases-loaded mess for a reliever to inherit after walking Devin Mesoraco with two outs in the top of the sixth inning.

Yadier Molina had other ideas.

The St. Louis Cardinals' catcher ended the rally in stunning fashion with a pickoff of Eugenio Suarez, sparking a three-run rally for his team in their half of the sixth that led to a 7-5 win Friday night over the Cincinnati Reds in Busch Stadium.

With Suarez at second and Scott Schebler at first after consecutive singles, Mesoraco worked a full count and then trotted to first after Lynn missed with his 101st and last pitch of the night.

Molina didn't miss with his quick strike. As Suarez rounded third base by a step, Molina and Jedd Gyorko made eye contact. Molina whipped a throw to Gyorko and he slapped a tag on Suarez as Molina jumped in the air and pumped his fist.

"I was waiting for it," Molina said. "It was a timing play."

Lynn said he's never surprised by anything Molina does.

"I saw it in the WBC," Lynn said, referring to Molina's pickoff of Jurickson Profar after Profar celebrated a hit while off first base. "You've got to watch him; he's sneaky. He's always on his toes. I got myself in trouble and he bailed me out there."

For his part, Suarez offered no excuses.

"I was not paying attention, and he got me," he said.

Then St. Louis got Cincinnati with an outburst that doubled a tenuous 3-1 lead and knocked starter Tim Adleman out of the box. Gyorko walloped a homer to right-center, his fourth, Randal Grichuk greeted reliever Blake Wood with an RBI single and pinch-hitter Matt Adams tacked on a sacrifice fly.

Molina added what appeared to be an afterthought sacrifice fly in the seventh that made it 7-1. The Reds made it a bit less of an afterthought by hammering the worn-down Cardinals' bullpen, which worked 7 2/3 innings Thursday in a doubleheader sweep of Toronto, for four runs in the eighth.

Joey Votto belted a two-run homer off Miguel Socolovich, and Scooter Gennett ripped a two-run double off Kevin Siegrist. Pressing its attack, Cincinnati put the tying run aboard when Patrick Kivlehan drew an eight-pitch walk.

Seung Hwan Oh restored order with a first-pitch pop up off Billy Hamilton's bat, then cruised through the ninth in nine pitches for his sixth save in seven chances.

St. Louis (12-11) climbed over .500 for the first time since Opening Night with its ninth win in 11 games. The Reds (10-13) ate their sixth loss in seven contests, falling to 0-4 on their current road trip.

Lynn (3-1) notched his third straight win, yielding a run off six hits and two walks in six innings and fanning five. Adleman (0-1) allowed eight hits and six runs (five earned) over 5 1/3 innings. He gave up a walk and whiffed three.

Scott Schebler started the scoring for Cincinnati in the second with a solo homer to right, his eighth of the season and his fifth in five games.

Adleman found trouble in the third after retiring six hitters in a row. Kolten Wong grounded a double down the right field line to score Grichuk, who reached on a two-base throwing error by Suarez. One out later, Dexter Fowler unloaded a two-run homer to right, his fourth of the year.

Three innings later, the game reached a sudden turning point when Suarez assumed the Cardinals were making a pitching change. He found out the hard way that they didn't.

"There was a big opportunity for the game to swing in the other direction," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "Yadi has his antenna up for any possible play. He has got some instincts."

NOTES: Cincinnati activated 2014 All-Star C Devin Mesoraco Thursday off the 10-day DL and started him Friday. Mesoraco (shoulder/hip) played 13 games during his rehab assignment at Double-A Pensacola, hitting .170 in 47 at-bats with a homer and three RBIs. ... St. Louis finished with 11 hits, giving it 48 in its last four games. ... Cincinnati RHP Homer Bailey (elbow), who is on the 60-day DL and isn't eligible to come off it until June 1, will throw a bullpen session Tuesday.