PHOENIX – Before Dustin May could get control of the unraveling third inning, former Cardinal Nolan Arenado had already taken advantage.

Arenado’s two-out, two-run double was the decisive blow of an inning that effectively knocked the Cardinals too far behind for one of their customary comebacks. An inning that already included two walks, a wild pitch and a run that scored on that wild pitch because of the lack of a play at the plate climaxed with Arenado’s double. Arizona took the lead early and held it for a 5-3 victory Saturday afternoon at Chase Field.

Arenado’s double opened up a four-run lead on the Cardinals and that would grow to five before the visitors chipped away at it.

Missed chances in the seventh and eighth innings gave way to the ninth when Jimmy Crooks’ solo homer helped tighten the score. Arizona closer and amateur scheduling enthusiast Paul Sewald cooled the Cardinals from there to secure the win and his 23rd save.

The rubber match of the series is Sunday.

Both the Cardinals (51-46) and Diamondbacks (50-48) are scrambling against each other to get a foothold in the wild-card race as the second half begins.

From the start, right-hander Dustin May strayed from the zone. He walked a batter on four pitches to begin his second half and would walk four in the game. Arizona reached May (5-7) for five runs on eight hits in his five innings. Brad Pfaadt (4-1) held the Cardinals to two runs on six hits and received solid relief to maintain the lead.

Arenado stings former team

In his first Arizona home series against his former team, Arenado gave his former teammates plenty of familiar moments — just a different vantage point for them.

He twice turned difficult plays against speedy Jordan Walker into seemingly routine outs from third base. He chatted up shortstop Masyn Winn while the other Cardinals’ infielders joined a meeting on the mound, and Arenado was only there at second to talk with Winn because of a two-run double.

Arenado was in the middle of Arizona’s early rallies.

The former Silver Slugger-winner pulled a single to left field in his first at-bat that moved a runner into scoring position to eventually become the D-Backs’ first run. In the third inning, Arenado pulled a two-out, two-run double against May to push the Diamondbacks toward a lead that would become 5-0. In his third at-bat, Arenado drove a pitch – but it was high enough to remain in the park and find the glove of his good friend Lars Nootbaar for an out. Arenado also lined out sharply to Nootbaar in the eighth.

Robbed of an RBI on Friday night by Winn, Arenado’s two on Saturday gave him 42 in his first season with the Diamondbacks.

Inning unravels on May

As if the play he didn’t make at the plate wasn’t enough to slow Arizona’s rally in the third, May permitted another two runs to really make a mess of the inning.

At one point, as his teammates and pitching coach Dusty Blake converged on the mound, May vigorously spiked the rosin bag in apparent frustration.

The Diamondbacks blitzed May for three runs in the inning, and several — if not all — of them could have been avoided. In the first inning, May walked the first batter on four pitches, but then got a double play groundout to bail him out of trouble. The third inning had a similar beginning. After a single and a walk, May coaxed a ground ball for a double play that could have derailed the Diamondbacks’ threat.

Instead, he spurred it.

May spiked a pitch that catcher Pedro Pages could not control with his backhand. The ball bounced high up in the air, and Arizona leadoff hitter Ketel Marte dashed home. The wild pitch did not take Pages far from home plate, and when he got control of the ball he had time to flip to May. May arrived a step behind Marte, conceding the run.

Even with two outs, the inning really went sideways from there.

The next three Diamondbacks reached base against May before he was able to regain a grip on the inning and end it. Gabriel Moreno singled to restart the rally, and Max Kepler walked to put two runners on base ahead of Arenado. The former Cardinal then pulled his double into the left-field corner where Nootbaar had to give chase.

Kepler scored from first to give Arenado two RBIs on the extra-base hit and extend the D-Backs’ lead to 4-0.

May faced seven batters in the inning, three of them scored, and five of them reached base safely. He walked two of them to make the rally possible.

That proved to be the difference between the two starts.

Pfaadt did not complete the sixth inning and allowed two runs on six hits. May did not throw a pitch in the sixth inning and allowed five runs on eight hits. The most substantial difference then was gift-giving. Pfaadt didn’t walk a batter, didn’t grease the basepaths for the Cardinals. May walked four and the dash of a wild pitch.

Derby champ delivers

After being held scoreless for five innings and mustering minimal success against Pfaadt, the Cardinals got their swings in rhythm for the sixth inning.

Four of the first five Cardinals to face Pfaadt singled.

By the time the inning ended, the Cardinals had loaded the bases, shattered Pfaadt’s shutout, and reached the Diamondbacks’ bullpen. Four of the Cardinals’ first five at-bats with runners in scoring position came in the inning, and the one that got them going was from Home Run Derby champion Walker.

Following singles by leadoff hitter JJ Wetherholt and first baseman Alec Burleson, Walker poked up a single to center to score Wetherholt.

Walker’s 75th RBI of the season gave the Cardinals their first run of day.

Nootbaar followed with a single to chase Pfaadt, and the Cardinals would ultimately get two more runners in scoring position with two outs. Nathan Church, the potential tying run at home plate, flew out to end the inning.

Late threats quelled

In the seventh and eighth innings, the Cardinals had generous chances to either match the Diamondbacks or chew into the lead.

A leadoff walk to Jose Fermin in the seventh would eventually bring the tying run to the plate after Wetherholt’s second single of the game. The Diamondbacks countered with lefty Brandyn Garcia to face left-handed batter Burleson and coaxed the fly out that ended that inning and that opportunity for the Cardinals.

In the eighth, the Cardinals got the ball in play that seemed bound to score a run. Winn had reached base with a two-out walk. Church then drilled a ball to deep center field that continued to carry as center fielder Jorge Barrosa gave chase. A defensive replacement for the Diamondbacks, Barrosa proved why when he jumped just in time to snag Church’s liner and end the inning — and the other opportunity for the Cardinals.

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