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The Cardinals turned four walks in one inning into their one and only rally — the one and only rally they needed in a 4-3 victory against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday at Busch Stadium. All four runs came in the fifth inning. Coupled with Saturday’s stunning ninth-inning rally, the Cardinals walked away with their third consecutive series victory and a 4-2 homestand.

They also resurfaced at .500 with a record of 72-72.

Sonny Gray took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning, when the Giants scored all of their runs. From there, it took the Cardinals bullpen to hold tight to a one-run lead.

Reliever Matt Svanson entered with the bases loaded in the sixth inning and a two-run lead to protect. Only one of the three inherited runners scored as he went on to pitch 1 2/3 innings. That ultimately bridged a one-run lead to the back end of the Cardinals bullpen. Svanson struck out three to halt the Giants. JoJo Romero struck out Jung Hoo Lee to end the eighth inning and hold that one-run lead, which right-hander Riley O’Brien cemented with a scoreless ninth.

On his way to securing the third save of his season, O’Brien got an assist from right fielder Nathan Church’s sliding catch near the line.

Both of the game’s starters had the same curious twist to their line scores.

They each allowed more runs than hits.

Blame the walks.

Giants starter Kai-Wei Teng walked four batters in the decisive fifth inning, and he finished the game with four runs allowed on three hits and five walks. He limited some of the trouble those caused with eight strikeouts. In his 5 1/3 innings, Gray (13-8) allowed three runs on two hits and four walks, three of which escorted him out of the sixth inning.

Walks will haunt

Teng invited the Cardinals to open up an otherwise brisk, scoreless game when he walked the first three batters in the bottom of the fifth inning.

ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ were also the last three batters in the Cardinals lineup.

No. 9 hitter Jose Fermin took four pitches, all of them outside the zone, and accepted the walk that loaded the bases against Teng and brought up the top of the order.

Cue the radio-dial offense.

The Cardinals went station to station to score four runs.

Lars Nootbaar started turning the walks into runs when he golfed a low pitch from Teng into center field for an RBI single. That brought home Jordan Walker for a 1-0 lead, and all of the Cardinals dutifully moved up 90 feet. Ivan Herrera followed with an RBI single to score Church, and all of the Cardinals dutifully moved up 90 feet. Nolan Gorman worked a bases-loaded walk to force home Fermin for another run when all of the Cardinals dutifully moved up 90 feet.

The rally produced the fourth run when Masyn Winn skipped into a double play, and Nootbaar opportunistically took the final 90 feet of his journey for a 4-0 lead.

Walks will haunt, the sequel

Before the single that cracked Gray’s no-hit bid and his shutout in one fell swoop of a bat, there were more walks.

On 10 pitches, Gray walked the first two batters of the sixth inning — and they just so happened to also be the last two batters of the Giants lineup. (Sense the similarities?) Gray walked Drew Gilbert to start the inning, and then former Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner saw five pitches, four of them balls, and took first to bump Gilbert into scoring position.

All of this came immediately after the Cardinals claimed a 4-0 lead.

Gray would walk three batters in the sixth inning, and that — more than either of the singles he allowed — illustrated why it was also his final inning.

In his third look at Gray, Rafael Devers poked a single up the middle to score Gilbert and break Gray’s hitless run through the Giants. Then came another walk to load the bases, and Gray’s 91st and final pitch of the game was sent to left field for an RBI single. The bases were still loaded then when Svanson inherited the mound.

He did not escape without allowing another run.

But he also didn’t complicate the inning with another walk.

Two of the three walks issued in the sixth came around to score as the Giants carved the Cardinals’ lead down to a run.

No-no signs

There were moments as Thomas Saggese dove to his left or Giants fumed as they turned right back to the dugout that Gray appeared to have the makings of a remarkable afternoon.

Gray retired the first 11 Giants he faced.

Only one of them got the ball out of the infield.

The game began with second baseman Saggese making a reach for a ground ball and a quick out. In the fifth inning, he raced to his left, and a dive took him into the outfield grass. Saggese was still able to make the throw that kept Gray’s no-hit bid intact.

Gray struck out three of the first nine Giants he faced, and by the end of the fifth inning, he had five strikeouts and only two outs that had left the infield. He tripped on a walk in the fourth inning to end the perfect streak through the Giants lineup, and the first hit came two innings later. Along with that went the shutout — and within a few batters, his afternoon was over too.