ST. LOUIS — Dustin May pitched six strong innings, Ramón Urías hit a double and scored twice, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series.

Jordan Walker hit a one-out single and, after Urías walked, scored on a single by Thomas Saggese.

Urías and Saggese moved into scoring position on a wild pitch by Zach Kelly before José Fermín hit a sacrifice fly that drove in Urías and gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning.

Masataka Yoshida had an RBI groundout and Trevor Story stole home when Marcelo Mayer swiped second on a double steal in the fourth inning for the Red Sox runs. Wilyer Abreu had two hits.

Victor Scott II’s sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the second inning drove in Urías opened the scoring.

May (1-2) allowed two runs — one earned — on four hits with four strikeouts in six innings. Riley O’Brien pitched a 1-2-3 ninth and earned his fourth save.

Kelly (0-1) replaced starter Connelly Early with one out in the fifth and gave up two runs while recording two outs.

Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn, who was hit by a pitch in the third inning, was replaced by Saggese in the fifth due to a lower-leg contusion.

Up next

Boston’s Ranger Suarez (0-1, 8.64 ERA) is set to pitch Saturday against Kyle Leahy (1-1, 5.40).