ST. LOUIS — The provider of a go-ahead hit on Thursday when he was summoned off the bench in the eighth inning of the first game of a doubleheader in Chicago, catcher Yohel Pozo once again provided heroics for the Cardinals.

On Saturday, Pozo delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning that lifted the Cardinals to a 6-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium.

Pozo entered the game on defense after starting catcher Pedro Pages was lifted from the game for a pinch runner in the 10th inning. Pozo’s clutch hit secured a series win over Cincinnati and made up for the scoring chance the Cardinals could not capitalize on an inning prior.

Batting with the bases loaded and no outs in the 10th inning, the Cardinals could not score despite putting the ball in play twice. Ground-balls by Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson led to force outs at home. A strikeout of Willson Contreras sent Saturday’s game to an 11th inning.

The Cardinals (42-35) trailed 5-2 heading into the eighth inning after a two-run homer by Elly De La Cruz lifted the Reds to a 4-2 lead in the seventh and Will Benson produced a sacrifice fly an inning later.

They closed that gap with run-producing hits in the eighth inning from Winn and Burleson and a game-tying home run from Nolan Arenado in the ninth inning.

Earlier on the afternoon, the Cardinals and starter Sonny Gray held onto a 2-0 lead powered by a homer from Burleson in the first inning. Gray provided the Cardinals with five innings and kept the Reds to one run before Matz replaced him at the start of the sixth inning.

Gray recorded five strikeouts and worked around five hits and two walks in the start. He received help from Brendan Donovan’s diving grab of De La Cruz’s ground ball that ended the fifth inning when runners stood on first and third base.

Before facing De La Cruz with a runner on third base in the seventh inning, Matz gave up the game-tying run on a groundout by Gavin Lux that scored Connor Joe from third base after Joe began the inning with a walk.

De La Cruz’s afternoon

From getting thrown out at home following his triple to losing his lunch (or perhaps breakfast) while manning shortstop to giving his team a lead, Reds star De La Cruz had an eventful Saturday at Busch Stadium.

In the third inning, the former All-Star pulled a line drive to center field that had a 110.3 mph exit velocity and got past a diving Victor Scott II. Despite Scott’s effort to quickly pop to his feet, collect the baseball and fire a throw to shortstop Masyn Winn, De La Cruz reached base with a triple.

When Winn’s relay throw got past third baseman Nolan Arenado, De La Cruz attempted to score from third base, but Gray, who backed up the throw, fired a strike to catcher Pedro Pages at home plate that beat De La Cruz with plenty of time to prevent a run.

During the fourth inning, when De La Cruz was on defense, the 23-year-old needed to be visited by a team trainer after he vomited on the field. He remained in the game after a brief checkup and after the Busch Stadium grounds crew treated the infield dirt.

Remaining in the game allowed the switch-hitting De La Cruz to deliver the game-deciding swing off Matz after the former entered Saturday with a .194 batting average against left-handers when he’s batted as a right-handed hitter.

Outs on the bases

When the Cardinals put runners on first and second base with no outs to begin the fifth inning, the chance to widen their 2-1 lead ended without a runner reaching third base. A pair of outs on the base paths stopped any momentum the opportunity created.

With Nolan Gorman on second base and Lars Nootbaar on first following back-to-back walks, Pages held his bat out in an attempt to drop a sacrifice bunt. But Pages puled his bat back and took the first pitch he saw from Ian Gibaut for a called strike, leading catcher Tyler Stephenson to throw down to second base to nab Gorman for the inning’s first out after Gorman's large secondary lead prompted a thrown.

Once Pages reached base with a walk that advanced Nootbaar to second base, a line drive from Victor Scott II was caught by De La Cruz near the second base bag and resulted in an inning-ending double play as Nootbaar could not retreat to the bag in time.

Burleson’s blistering bat

A day after giving his team an early lead on Friday, Burleson did the same on Saturday. He later added to his efforts with an RBI that drew the Cardinals to within one run of Cincinnati.

After plating a run on a sacrifice fly in the third inning of a 6-1 win in the series-opener, Burleson worked himself into a 2-1 count, fouled off the next two pitches he saw, took a sinker just off the plate to work the count full vs. Brent Suter and earn a seventh pitch.

Burleson pulled Suter’s 3-2 pitch, a fastball thrown well inside, over the right field wall for a two-run homer that scored Winn.

In the eighth inning, after Winn drove in a run with a two-out single, Burleson pulled the Cardinals to a 5-4 deficit when he pulled a single to right field that had a 107.7 mph exit velocity and scored Donovan.

The homer and RBI single continued a torrid stretch for Burleson.

Heading into Saturday, Burleson had a .374 batting average, a .405 on-base percentage, and slugged .579 across 117 plate appearances in 30 games dating back to May 10 with a start in Washington, D.C. The home run was Burleson’s fourth in 18 games since the start of June.

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