St. Louis Cardinals' Willson Contreras (40) is held back by manager Oliver Marmol, left, and umpire crew chief Jordan Baker, right, after being ejected by home plate umpire Derek Thomas, second from left, during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

ST. LOUIS — Alec Burleson hit a game-ending solo homer with two out in the ninth inning, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.

Burleson drove an 87 mph slider from Dennis Santana (4-5) deep to center for his 16th homer. It was his fourth hit of the night.

It was the first run allowed by Santana since Aug. 6. The right-hander surrendered three hits in 6• scoreless innings over his previous six appearances.

Willson Contreras had two RBIs for St. Louis, which had dropped eight of 11. Michael McGreevy permitted four runs and six hits in six innings.

Bryan Reynolds and Spencer Horwitz hit back-to-back homers for Pittsburgh in the third.

St. Louis grabbed the lead with five runs in the fifth. Contreras hit a tying two-run single and scored on Nolan Gorman’s double against Andrew Heaney. Thomas Saggese made it 6-4 with an RBI single.

Nick Gonzales got one back for Pittsburgh with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Ronny Simon hit a tying RBI double off Riley O’Brien (2-0) in the ninth.

Contreras and Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol were ejected in the seventh after arguing a called third strike. Coaches and players both had to restrain Contreras as he initially refused to leave the field.

With the win

The Pirates fell to 57-75 while the Cardinals improved to 65-67.

High praise

According to Minor League Baseball.com, the top 10 farm systems were rated by writer Sam Dykstra and on Monday, he released his list featuring the Pirates.

If this was just about Top 100 talent alone, the Bucs might have taken the cake. Pittsburgh has MLB Pipeline’s top pitching prospect in right-hander Bubba Chandler (MLB No. 7), who has finally risen to the Majors in an initial relief role after a summer filled with speculation.

They also may have gotten the pitcher with the highest ceiling in this year’s Draft class in fellow righty Seth Hernandez (MLB No. 27) with the sixth overall pick in July. Triple-A lefty Hunter Barco (MLB No. 86) rounds out the Top 100 contingent with an effective three-pitch mix that is also closing in on Major League readiness.

Only the Mariners have as many Top 100 arms as the Pirates. However, only nine members of Pittsburgh’s Top 30 prospects list are pitchers, and that lack of depth lands the organization in the second spot.