St. Louis Cardinals' Willson Contreras (40) follows through on a single off Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Joe Boyle during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Contreras HR, Burleson’s 2 RBIs power the Cardinals to a 7-4 win over the Rays

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Willson Contreras homered, Alec Burleson’s two-run single highlighted a five-run second inning and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-4 on Thursday night.

Sonny Gray (12-6) allowed three runs on six hits in five innings, with six strikeouts and a walk for the win. Kyle Leahy, Matt Svanson and JoJo Romero (fourth save) combined to limit Tampa Bay to one run and five hits the rest of the way.

Trailing 1-0 going into the second, the Cardinals got run-scoring hits from Nathan Church and Lars Nootbaar before another run scored on a wild pitch and Burleson drove in two runs with a single to right field. Ivan Herrera added an RBI single in the fourth and Contreras hit his 18th homer of the season in the seventh off Bryan Baker.

Tampa Bay’s Yardy Diaz hit a two-run homer in the third. It was his 17th homer at Steinbrenner Field and 21st of the season overall.

Joe Boyle (1-3) took his first home loss this season. He allowed six runs, five earned, on nine hits with five strikeouts and three walks in five innings.

Key moment

Diaz, the Rays’ veteran DH singled in the bottom of the fifth and injured his right hamstring. He left the game and is day-to-day.

Key stat

After allowing just one earned run in four previous starts at Steinbrenner Field, Boyle allowed five earned and six total Thursday. He also allowed a career-high nine hits.

Up next

Rays RHP Adrian Houser (6-4, 2.67 ERA) faces Cardinals RHP Miles Mikolas (6-9, 4.99) on Friday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Sonny Gray delivers to the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
St. Louis Cardinals’ Thomas Saggese, right, scores as the throw skips away from Tampa Bay Rays catcher Nick Fortes on a fielder’s choice by Nathan Church during the second inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Joe Boyle delivers to the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

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