The St. Louis Cardinals staged a dramatic ninth-inning comeback to defeat the San Francisco Giants 3-2 at Busch Stadium on Saturday, with Jordan Walker delivering a walk-off, two-run double that ended a three-run frame. The win improves the Cardinals' record to 70-72, placing them fourth in the NL Central, while the Giants fall to 72-70, remaining in third place in the NL West.

The game was largely a pitcher’s duel for the first eight innings. Cardinals starter Andre Pallante allowed two runs on five hits over six innings, striking out three and walking one. He also hit two batters and threw two wild pitches, but avoided further damage in a solid outing, marking his first quality start since July 28.

On the other side, veteran Justin Verlander, in his 20th MLB season, dominated through six innings, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out six. Verlander’s performance included passing Giants Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry on the all-time strikeout list, moving into eighth place with 3,536 career strikeouts.

The Giants broke the deadlock in the top of the fourth with two runs. Casey Schmitt hit a sacrifice fly to score Dominic Smith, and Drew Gilbert followed with a double that drove in Matt Chapman. The Giants’ offense otherwise struggled against Pallante, relying on small defensive lapses to generate those runs.

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Defensive plays from the Cardinals and timely throws kept the Giants’ scoring limited, including a crucial throw from catcher Patrick Bailey that gunned down Victor Scott II attempting to steal third in the fifth inning.

The Cardinals’ rally began in the bottom of the ninth against Giants reliever Ryan Walker, who would blow his sixth save of the season. Nolan Gorman and Masyn Wynn singled, and a pitch hit Jimmy Crooks to load the bases with no outs.

Thomas Saggese followed with an RBI single to bring the Cardinals within one, and Jordan Walker delivered the game-winning hit, ripping a liner through the third baseman’s glove to left field and scoring two runs. The walk-off was Walker’s first career walk-off hit and ended the Giants’ five-game winning streak.

Not only that, the Giants' streak of consecutive games with at least one home run ended at 18, just one shy of the franchise record set in 1947.