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When the Cardinals were down to one out in the bottom of the ninth after they had their one-run lead wiped away in the half inning prior, first baseman Alec Burleson provided the swing they’d need to regain the lead and take a series-opening victory over the Pirates.

On a 1-1 slider, Burleson belted a solo home run to center field that traveled 409 feet and elevated to the Cardinals to a 7-6 walk-off win over Pittsburgh at Busch Stadium.

The home run was Burleson’s 16th of the year and his first walk-off homer of his career.

Before Burleson could provide a game-winning swing, right-hander Riley O’Brien blew a save opportunity in the ninth when he allowed Ronny Simon to double home Liover Peguero with one out in the inning. The 6-5 lead the Cardinals held onto was provided by a five-run fifth inning that included five two-out hits and propelled the Cardinals to a 6-4 lead.

The five-run inning closed a 4-1 deficit that the Cardinals found themselves in after rookie starter Michael McGreevy gave up four runs in his first three innings. McGreevy allowed two homers in a start, marking his first outing in the majors where he allowed two or more home runs. He also set a career high in strikeouts with seven after he retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.

In the win, Contreras and manager Oli Marmol were ejected in the seventh inning after Contreras exchanged words with home plate umpire Derek Thomas and needed to be restrained by coaches.

Monday’s announced crowd of 17,675 marked the smallest crowd for a game at Busch Stadium III, excluding crowds limited by COVID-19 restrictions. The announced crowd size was the smallest for a Cardinals home game since they drew 16,965 on Aug. 25, 1997.

Winn at the right place, right time

With the Pirates looking to advance runners with a bunt, it was Winn who helped control the inning on a throwing error that could have proved more costly than it did.

As runners stood on first and second base and no outs after Kyle Leahy walked Jack Suwinski and allowed a single to Joey Bart, a bunt attempt by Peguero was fielded cleanly by Leahy, but was overthrown by the righty as he tried to get the lead runner.

The throw, on a trajectory to land in foul territory behind third base, was caught on the run by Winn, who raced to back up any throws to third base. The play prevented any runners from taking an extra base and left Leahy with a bases-loaded scenario.

The righty struck out the next batter he faced and allowed a run on a sacrifice fly to record the next two outs. He limited the damage to one run by getting Bryan Reynolds to strike out swinging on a curveball in the dirt.

Contreras, Marmol ejected

Willson Contreras was ejected from Monday’s game in the seventh inning after arguing with home plate umpire Derek Thomas.

Contreras struck out, looking, a 0-2 fastball that appeared to catch the bottom of the strike zone. Contreas appeared to exchange words with Thomas as he walked back to the dugout. Contreras stopped on the field and continued exchanging words with Thomas, leading manager Oli Marmol to trot from the dugout to the area around home plate in an attempt to separate Contreras from Thomas.

Emotions from Contreras appeared to heighten as he continued to exchange words with Thomas and had to be held back by Marmol and bench coach Daniel Descalso. Contreras appeared to continue to shout at Thomas as Descalso walked him off the field. Contreras then tossed his bat behind him. The bat appeared to hit Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown, who walked alongside first base umpire Stu Scheurwater.

McGreevy finds a groove

After allowing four runs, two homers, and a double through, McGreevy set down 11 consecutive Pirates hitters. He collected five of his career-high seven strikeouts in that stretch and was aided by a double play on a groundout in his final inning of work.

McGreevy’s ability to quiet Pittsburgh’s lineup through his final 3 2/3 innings began with a groundout of Tommy Pham on the heels of back-to-back homers by Bryan Reynolds and Spencer Horowitz. He struck out Jared Triolo on a 1-2 cutter just above the knees that froze Triolo. Two groundouts and a strikeout of Bart that got Bart to chase a 94-mph fastball thrown up and inside got McGreevy through his first 1-2-3 inning of the night.

In the fifth inning, with leadoff hitter Ronny Simon, Nick Gonzales, and Reynolds due up, the rookie righty found an answer against a trio of hitters who were 4 for 6 against with two singles, a double, and a homer to begin the night.

McGreevy got Simon to chase a 2-2 fastball to open the inning with a strikeout. He got ahead of Gonzales 0-2 before getting him to whiff on a curveball three pitches later. After falling behind 2-1 to Reynolds, McGreevy saw the two-time All-Star foul off a curveball then froze him with a sweeper that clipped the bottom outside corner of the strike zone.