Cardinals 8, Orioles 3: Kolten Wong matched a career high with four hits and scored twice and Peter Bourjos added a three-run homer as visiting St. Louis salvaged the finale of its three-game interleague series with Baltimore.

Jhonny Peralta had three hits and joined Jon Jay and Daniel Descalso with RBI singles for the Cardinals, who reside two games behind first-place Milwaukee in the National League Central and gained hold of the first wild-card slot. Jay scored twice, Matt Carpenter had an RBI double and Lance Lynn (12-8) allowed three runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win.

Nick Markakis went 4-for-4 and scored twice and Nelson Cruz added an RBI double for the Orioles, who fell for just the sixth time in 20 outings. Baltimore leads Toronto by five games and New York by six heading into the opener of its three-game home series against the Yankees on Monday.

St. Louis claimed a 3-2 lead against starter Kevin Gausman (6-4) before Descalso plated Jay with a single to right off reliever T.J. McFarland in the sixth inning. The Orioles answered in the bottom of the frame with Markakis' RBI single, but Descalso and Carpenter led off the eighth with back-to-back doubles to give the Cardinals a 5-3 advantage.

Pat Neshek kept Baltimore at bay by striking out a season-high four in two innings of work before Bourjos provided insurance in the ninth by jumping on a 3-1 fastball from Zach Britton for his fourth homer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Baltimore C Caleb Joseph failed in his bid to tie the franchise record for homers in consecutive games. The rookie, who went 1-for-4, had gone deep in each of his previous five contests. ... Orioles manager Buck Showalter was ejected in the seventh inning after arguing the result of a replay review. ... Baltimore SS Ryan Flaherty received the surprise start in place of J.J. Hardy, who was scratched prior to the game with a sore left thumb.