ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis manager Mike Matheny decided at the last minute against giving slumping infielder Kolten Wong the day off on Saturday.

It proved to be a smart move.

Wong homered and had three RBIs and Justin Masterson won his St. Louis debut as the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-7 on Saturday night.

St. Louis, which had lost three of its previous four, moved two games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central. The Brewers had a two-game winning streak snapped.

Wong, who entered the contest mired in a 6 for 36 skid, went 3 for 5. He slammed a bases-loaded single to trigger a five-run outburst in the second inning that put St. Louis ahead to stay 6-1. He also hit a solo homer in the first.

“That worked out fine for all of us,” Matheny said of the late pre-game move. “It was nice to see him bounce back. With a young player, when he has a couple of rough days, you wonder, `can he leave it behind and go back to having a nice approach.’ He jumped right in and had some big at-bats.”

Wong was 2 for 3 in his career against Brewers starter Kyle Lohse, a key factor in Matheny leaving him in the lineup.

Wong, who entered the game hitless in his previous eight at-bats, spent some extra time studying his approaches at the plate following Friday’s 7-4 loss to Milwaukee.

“I knew the reason I was striking out as soon as the game finished yesterday,” Wong said. “I was swinging way too hard trying to do way too much.”

Masterson (1-0) gave up five runs on seven hits over six innings. He was acquired from Cleveland on Wednesday for minor league outfielder James Ramsey.

“There was a little rust out there,” Masterson said. “But with that intense offense that we had, and some solid defense, that makes it fun to be out there.”

Aramis Ramirez and Scooter Gennett drove in two runs each for the Brewers. Ramirez had three hits for the second successive game.

Lohse (11-6) took the loss. Lohse, who pitched for the Cardinals from 2008-12, gave up nine runs on nine hits over four innings. He struck out two and walked three. Lohse gave up eight earned runs in a 15-5 loss at Pittsburgh on June 6.

“It was just a rough one,” Lohse said. “I just left too many balls out over the plate.”

St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal recorded his 33rd save in 37 opportunities. He allowed a leadoff double to Jean Segura. Rosenthal then appeared to hit Elian Herrera with a pitch, but the call was overturned by a challenge. Rosenthal then got Herrera to ground out. He struck out Carlos Gomez and Gerardo Parra to end the game.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Aramis Ramirez knows he’s not supposed to have success like this against Adam Wainwright.

“I don’t have an explanation for it,” the Milwaukee Brewers cleanup man said after setting the tone with a home run and an RBI double off the St. Louis Cardinals’ ace in a 7-4 victory Friday night. “He’s been one of the best pitchers in the game for a while.

“I don’t know, for some reason I get good swings and good pitches to hit.”

Ramirez has three homers, eight doubles and eight RBIs to go with a .415 average against Wainwright, the best in the majors against the right-hander. The homer was the first Wainwright has ever allowed on a 3-0 count.

“After the fact I probably should have been ready for it,” Wainwright said. “He had no reason not to (swing) right there.”

Wily Peralta won his 13th game to tie for the National League lead and Jonathan Lucroy’s bases-clearing double chased Wainwright (13-6) in a four-run sixth inning that put Milwaukee up by six. The NL Central leaders are three games ahead of the Cardinals.

“Whenever you’re down in the zone with 95 mph sinkers and throwing offspeed early in the count for strikes, it’s tough for the opposing team,” Lucroy said.

Matt Carpenter had two hits and three RBIs and Matt Holliday homered for St. Louis, which has lost three of four.

Peralta, Wainwright and the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw all have 13 wins. Last year, the 25-year-old Peralta was 11-15 with a 4.37 ERA in his first full season in the majors.

Peralta (13-6) allowed two runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings to win his fourth straight start. He’s given up two or fewer runs in all of them, a stretch that began with seven innings of three-hit ball and no earned runs at home against the Cardinals on July 13.

Ramirez hit his 13th homer leading off the second, made it 2-0 with an RBI double in the third and had an infield hit in the fifth.

Francisco Rodriguez got the final out for his 32nd save in 36 chances.

— Associated Press —