St. LOUIS — The comeback didn’t have to be as mighty but proved to be just as effective Wednesday afternoon to seize the series from the Cleveland Guardians.

The Cardinals turned constant pressure on the bases and a timely series of singles and productive outs into a late-game chain of runs and, technically, another come-from-behind victory at Busch Stadium. Nathan Church had three hits, scored a run in the decisive rally and added an RBI later as the Cardinals beat the rain and the Guardians for a 5-3 victory.

The Cardinals mixed nine hits and four stolen bases with some savvy situational hitting to overcome the slimmest, earliest deficit of 1-0 in the first inning.

Riley O’Brien held fast to the lead for his fifth save.

Starter Dustin May continued take strides away from his slow start to the season with six strong innings. He held the Guardians to one run on six hits and, with a little help from his defense, kept Cleveland from doing what the Cardinals did: stringing hits together until they turned into a rally.

If Tuesday’s stunning comeback hinged on the homer, the Cardinals returned to their roots Wednesday by spinning a series of singles and productive outs into the tie-breaking rally.

Masyn Winn led off the sixth with a single. He got to second on the second of Church’s base hits, and both of them moved up a base when Pedro Pages dropped a sacrifice bunt. A quick walk earned by No. 9 hitter Victor Scott II loaded the bases for leadoff hitter JJ Wetherholt. The rookie didn’t have a hit in the game, and yet he was a constant presence for the Cardinals’ offense. He reached base three times, and he lifted a sacrifice fly to right to score shortstop Masyn Winn for the 2-1 lead.

Scott used the attention given to other runners to tag up for second.

That proved essential when Alec Burleson slipped a bounding, ground-ball single up the middle and past a diving infielder. Scott advancing to second gave Burleson a two-RBI single and the Cardinals a wider lead they’d need.

The three-run rally conjured from singles, walks and tagging up gave way to a more traditional add-on in the seventh. Church doubled home pinch runner Ramon Urias to create the lead that O’Brien inherited for the ninth.

May reverses his April

The residue from two clunkers to start May’s first season with the Cardinals hasn’t been entirely wiped from his ERA just yet, but he carved another three runs off it Wednesday with his second consecutive quality starter.

Blunt in the assessment of his performance after giving up seven runs to the Tigers in 3 1/3 innings on April 4, May said he would fix what had gone awry, starting with the execution of pitches and also the order in which he was using them to test hitters. In the two starts since that dud in Detroit, May has been better than quality both times.

He’s pitched six innings in consecutive starts.

He’s allowed one earned run in each start.

May teased becoming the first Cardinals starter this season to get an out in the seventh inning with six strong innings against the Guardians on 91 pitches. He didn’t defy Cleveland’s swings as much as mute them. The right-hander got only two swings and misses in the game, but he was able to unease the Guardians for 22 called strikes. He struck out four, and three of those called on called third strikes.

May let his defense do the work, and the defense responded by catching an attempted thief, throwing out a runner at home and turning two double plays for him.

Exchange of early runs

The first ball put in play portended a long day for May.

Cleveland’s leadoff hitter Steven Kwan poked an outside pitch down the third base line that hugged fair territory and slipped into left field for a double. While Kwan was subsequently caught in a rundown between home and third after a snazzy play by Winn, that rundown is what allowed Jose Ramirez to reach second. Ramirez being in scoring position led to a run on Kyle Manzardo’s single to center and Cleveland’s first-inning 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals answered in the bottom of the second with the first of their small-ball rallies.

First, Church stole a single with a bunt.

Second, he stole second.

That put him in scoring position when Pages pulled a single past the diving shortstop, and Church used his speed for the third time in one trip around the bases to score from second and knot the game 1-1.

The Cardinals would steal two more bases in the inning and load the base again for No. 3 hitter Alec Burleson. They did not snap the tie — that would happen in the sixth — but they would hint at how they’d eventually do it. Through the first two innings of the game, the Cardinals had left a total of five runners on base, four of whom were in scoring position.

Burly’s busy inning rewarded

During one eventful at-bat in the top of the third inning, first baseman Burleson attempted to steal a hit and saved a teammate from a costly error, and for his effort — all in the span of a few pitches — he was ultimately rewarded.

Leadoff hitter Kwan yanked a ball down the first base line that bent just foul but not before Burleson made a diving reach for the liner, nearly landing on first base.

A deft catch there might have doubled up the runner.

Instead, Kwan remained at the plate, and base runner Brayan Rocchio touched first base before resuming his lead off of it. He got far enough away that May pivoted quickly to try and pick him off. May’s throw was high and threatened to sail into foul territory. Burleson leapt and snared the wild throw to keep Rocchio from advancing.

All of that activity, and Burleson had only kept things status quo.

He’d get his chance to shape things on the next ball Kwan put in play.

Again, Cleveland’s leadoff hitter pulled a ball down the first base line, and this one stayed fair. Burleson caught it for the out, then touched first base with his foot as Rocchio dove back in. The unassisted double play unplugged the Guardians after a leadoff infield single and continued May’s streak of scoreless innings to complete his start.

Defense giveth and taketh (kind of)

A misplay in left field caused the Cardinals to scramble to avoid giving up the go-ahead run, and even then, a more aware recovery could have been even more productive.

In the top of the fourth inning, Cleveland’s George Valera drilled a line drive through the rain and toward left field. Church, the Cardinals’ left fielder du jour, took an odd route on the well-struck ball, and before he could recover and head back, it had cleared his awkward stab at it with his glove. Valera cruised for a double.

Church recovered to get the ball off the carom, and his throw to cutoff man Winn made it possible for the Cardinals’ Gold Glove-winning shortstop to steal an out.

Cleveland’s Manzardo had bolted from first on Valera’s liner, and by the time Church had recovered, Manzardo was rounding third and forcing the issue home. A 1-1 tie could be broken if he got there. Winn’s throw beat him by several strides, and catcher Pages dropped the tag to keep the score tied. Pages, however, did not then fire to third — where Valera had tried to go on the throw. He was a good stretch from reaching the base, and what had started as a poor play in left field had the chance to become a double play and end the inning.

Pages kept the ball.

Valera got to third.

And the whole thing ended up not mattering much when May struck out Juan Brito to end the inning. Brito was caught looking at a strike initially called a ball. Pages challenged home plate umpire Alex MacKay’s view of the pitch and ABS proved Pages right for the inning-ending backward K.

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