Jun. 12—On the day the Cardinals put their All-Star closer Ryan Helsley on the injured list because of a strained right forearm, they watched a one-run lead slip away in the final third of the game as they dropped their third consecutive home contest on Monday night.

The Cardinals’ offense, needing one run to extend the game and two to win, couldn’t scratch out a run in the final two innings as they lost their 16th one-run game of the season, 4-3, in the opener of a three-game series in front of an announced 40,886 at Busch Stadium on Monday night.

They had the tying run in scoring position in the eighth and ninth innings. They also had the go-ahead run in scoring position in the eighth.

The Cardinals (27-40) came into the series having lost the final two games of their weekend series with the Cincinnati Reds as part of a stretch that included nine losses in their previous 12 games.

The Giants took three of four games in a series with the Cardinals in San Francisco on April 24-27.

Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt went one for five, with a home run and two RBIs, and Paul DeJong went two for four with a home run— his 37th at Busch Stadium and the 111th of his career.

DeJong now is tied with Randal Grichuk for the seventh- most career homers at the third incarnation of Busch Stadium.

Nolan Arenado (two for four), Brendan Donovan (two for four) and rookie Jordan Walker (two for four) also had multi-hit games in the loss.

Goldschmidt and Arenado each had at-bats with men in scoring position in the final two innings.

The Giants (34-32) tied the score 3-3 in the seventh against reliever Andre Pallante. They put three consecutive men on base with two outs via a walk and back-to-back singles. The second single, smacked into right field by Mitch Haniger, scored the tying run.

In the eighth inning against reliever Chris Stratton, the Giants pushed across the eventual winning run. A oneout double into the left-center field gap by Patrick Bailey put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Then Giants veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford smacked an RBI single on the ground into left field. Bailey scored to give the Giants a 4-3 lead.

The Giants’ Camilo Doval recorded his 17th save of the season, this one a four-out appearance. He got Dylan Carlson to fly out with the bases loaded in the eighth inning then induced Goldshmidt to ground out with men on first and second base to end the game.

Liberatore a no decision Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore came in searching for a bounce back performance following his shortest outing of the season last week in Texas against the Rangers. He went just four innings then and allowed five runs on seven hits, including the first home run he allowed this season.

This time Liberatore worked around two hits in the first inning, one got wiped away by a strike thrown by catcher Willson Contreras to catch Austin Slater stealing. Liberatore stranded the other runner on base.

In the second, he worked around a pair of walks and stranded two men on base.

However, the Giants benefited from putting men on base again in the third inning.

An infield single by Slater put the leadoff man on base, then Liberatore hit Thairo Estrada with a curveball to put the first two batters of the inning on base.

After a fly ball to left field for the first out of the inning, Liberatore uncorked a wild pitch that put runners on second and third with one out.

An RBI groundout by J.D. Davis drove in the game’s first run. Mitch Haniger followed with an RBI double lined over the head of leaping third baseman Arenado and into the left field corner.

The first two batters reached and then scored in the third inning as the Giants grabbed a 2-0 advantage.

Liberatore finished his outing with three scoreless innings to record his first quality start in the majors this season. He allowed two runs on seven hits and two walks, and he struck out five in six innings. He exited the game with the Cardinals leading 3-2.

Webb gets win Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb came into the night looking for a rebound performance as well. In his previous start against the Rockies, Webb allowed four runs and went fewer than six innings for the first time since April 5. That start in Colorado snapped a streak of eight consecutive quality starts for the right-hander.

Monday night’s meeting marked the sixth start for Webb against the Cardinals (fourth at Busch Stadium). Before Monday, he’d gone 2-2 with a 5.55 ERA against the Cardinals. The Giants had gone 3-2 in his five previous starts.

Webb held the Cardinals to just two hits, including an infield single, through the first four innings. He’d logged twice as many strikeouts (four) as hits allowed (two) heading into the fifth inning.

Webb, who recorded a quality start, allowed his first run in the fifth inning and gave up two more in the sixth. He finished his outing having given up three runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out six and didn’t issue a walk.

The Giants tied the score in the seventh and took a lead in the eighth to put Webb in position for the win.

‘Pauly D’ ends drought DeJong provided the Cardinals with their first run of the game with his two-out solo homer into the left field stands in the bottom of the fifth inning.

DeJong smoked an 0-2 slider from Webb that hung over the heart of the plate. The ball traveled an estimated 378 feet for DeJong’s ninth home run of the season.

DeJong his eight home runs in his first 24 games this season, but he’d gone 16 games since his last home run before he went deep on Monday night. He hadn’t hit a home run since May 22.

The homer also marked his second this season on an 0-2 count. It also gave him six hits against the Giants in 19 at-bats, including two home runs.

‘Goldy’ also homers The Cardinals trailed 2-1 heading into the sixth inning when Donovan belted a leadoff single into left field.

Goldschmidt blasted a 2-2 slider from Webb into the bullpen beyond the left-center field wall for a two-run home run as the Cardinals took a 3-2 lead. He’d struck out on a slider for a called third strike in his previous at-bat.

Goldschmidt, a former Arizona Diamondback, continues to terrorize Giants pitching. He entered the day with a career OPS of .963 against the Giants. His home run gave him 31 against the Giants, second most among active players in the majors behind Arenado (33).

He went seven for 17 with two home runs and five RBIs earlier this season in the four-game series between the teams. He registered an RBI in three consecutive games in that series.