ST. LOUIS _ Oakland hit three home runs against Cardinals starting pitcher Jack Flaherty and scored six runs in the fifth inning on the way to a 7-3 win Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.
Flaherty allowed six hits in the decisive inning before he was relieved.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, couldn't take full advantage of a rough outing by A's starter Chris Bassitt, who lasted only 3 1/3 innings and had trouble finding the strike zone.
In fact, the Cardinals were fortunate to score at all as they used a misplayed fly ball by Matt Carpenter to score three times in the second inning to take the lead.
The Cardinals left two runners on base in the fourth, fifth, eighth and ninth innings without pushing any runs across. They left 12 on base for the game.
Flaherty (4-5) allowed nine homers in five June starts and has surrendered a team-high 18 for the season.
Matt Olson hit a solo home run to lead off the second for the A's. Chad Pinder hit a two-run homer in the fifth after entering the game in a double switch. And Marcus Semien followed with a solo homer.
Bassitt walked four batters. He escaped trouble after putting two aboard in the first inning. He also nearly escaped the second despite surpassing 60 pitches.
The Cardinals had runners at second and third with two outs and Carpenter at the plate. Carpenter hit a deep fly ball to center field. Ramon Laureano backed up to the wall only to realize that the ball was going to fall shorter than he had expected.
When he lunged, he could not come up with the ball and both runners scored. Paul DeJong followed with a run-scoring double.
The Cardinals' bullpen was effective except for one batter. John Brebbia replaced Flaherty and quickly allowed a two-run single. He, Dominic Leone and Tyler Webb then retired the final 13 Oakland hitters.
