Cardinals 9, Brewers 7: Kolten Wong homered among his three hits and drove in three runs as host St. Louis outslugged Milwaukee to even the three-game series at one victory apiece.

Jhonny Peralta also went deep and Oscar Taveras ripped a two-run double for the Cardinals, who snapped their season-high four-game home losing streak to move within two of the first-place Brewers in the National League Central. Tony Cruz joined Wong by scoring twice and Matt Holliday had an RBI single in the victory.

Acquired from Cleveland on Wednesday, Justin Masterson (5-6) was shaky in his return from a knee injury but picked up the win after allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks in six innings. Carlos Gomez hit an RBI double in the seventh and scored on a groundout to trim St. Louis' lead to 9-7, but Trevor Rosenthal worked around Jean Segura's leadoff double in the ninth to notch his 33rd save.

After Wong homered in the first to forge a 1-1 tie, Peralta led off the second against former Cardinal Kyle Lohse (11-6) with a blast. Wong added a two-run single and came around to score on a throwing error by Milwaukee left fielder Gerardo Parra following Holliday's RBI single to cap the five-run frame.

Scooter Gennett ripped a two-run double as Milwaukee scored three in the fourth to cut the deficit to 6-4, but the teams traded runs before Taveras' two-run double in the fifth gave St. Louis a 9-5 advantage. That closed the book on Lohse, who permitted nine runs - seven earned - on as many hits in five-plus innings.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Milwaukee All-Star 3B Aramis Ramirez, who had an RBI single among his three hits, is 15-for-33 with two homers and eight RBIs versus the Cardinals this season. ... Lohse, who pitched with St. Louis from 2008-12, was moved up a day in the rotation after scheduled starter Jimmy Nelson was scratched due to a blister. ... Milwaukee has dropped four of its last six games.