ST. LOUIS — Facing the Cincinnati Reds on a sweltering Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium, the St. Louis Cardinals had two slim leads erased on solo homers and their chances to come away with a series win over Cincinnati dashed in the 10th inning on singles that left them with a 5-3 loss.

The Cardinals reached the 10th inning tied 2-2 with the Reds and found themselves down by a run one batter in to the extra inning. Matt Svanson had a 1-0 offering slip away for a wild pitch that moved Tyler Stephenson, the top of the 10th inning’s automatic runner, to third base. Stephenson crossed home moments later on a single Svanson allowed to pinch hitter Sal Stewart.

And after Svanson allowed another single and saw the Reds move two runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, left-hander Justin Bruihl allowed two inherited runners to score on a single from Nathaniel Lowe.

The Cardinals pushed across one run in the bottom of the 10th on a single by Alec Burleson and had the game-tying run reach first base with one out. Their last chance at a comeback ended with a flyout by Jose Fermin.

The Reds' runs in the 10th inning left the Cardinals with a loss after they held one-run leads in the second and third innings. Both leads on an afternoon when the heat index went above 115 degrees evaporated on solo homers allowed by starter Kyle Leahy.

A sacrifice fly from Fermin in the second inning provided a 1-0 lead. That lead was wiped away on a solo blast Leahy allowed to Elly De La Cruz in the third inning. Ivan Herrera's solo homer in the third off starter Andrew Abbott put the Cardinals ahead 2-1. The second lead vanished when Ke'Bryan Hayes, who came into Sunday batting .143, lifted a homer to left field to lead off the fifth inning.

The two homers allowed by Leahy were the only blemishes on an otherwise sharp day from the growing starter.

Leahy provided the Cardinals with six innings and struck out a career-high nine batters on 102 pitches. Leahy's sweeper and slider invited the bulk of his 10 swings and misses. Of his nine strikeouts, the righty's slider was used as a putaway pitch for three of them. His sinker was also used to record three strikeouts.

With the start, Leahy has completed five or more innings in seven of eight starts since June 12.

Effective innings from Luis Gastelum, who ended the seventh inning with a strikeout of De La Cruz, Ryne Stanek and George Soriano kept the Reds scoreless from the seventh through the ninth inning.

Reds second baseman Spencer Steer was removed from the series finale during his at-bat in the fifth inning because of right wrist pain. Steer appeared to aggravate his wrist after swinging at a pitch. He was examined on the field by a team trainer and left in an 0-2 count against Leahy.

Burleson beats lefty to open inning

Responsible for producing the Cardinals’ first run in the Saturday win, Burleson collected the Cardinals’ first hit Sunday and crossed home for their first run later that inning. To do so, Burleson found his way on base against a left-hander.

Burleson came into his Sunday start with a .195 batting average vs. left-handers but has shown recent improvements. Burleson totaled five hits in his previous 18 at-bats against lefties and collected his sixth in 19 at-bats with a double off Abbott that hit off the wall in right field.

Burleson hit a 2-2 sweeper thrown on the outer half of the plate for a double that hit off the right-field wall after he whiffed at a first-pitch sweeper thrown farther off the plate than the one he doubled on. The double matched a season high for the 27-year-old first baseman.

What followed behind him was contact that kept him moving on the bases.

Masyn Winn’s single to center field allowed Burleson to reach third base, and a sacrifice fly Fermin lifted to left field in the at-bat that followed allowed him to score.

Herrera continues hitting

Hours after he described some satisfaction with his production on Saturday and the sights to build off the hard contact he provided to help beat the Reds, Herrera delivered another impact swing when he came up to bat in the third inning against Cincinnati.

Herrera lifted the Cardinals to a 2-1 lead with a 411-foot solo homer against Abbott. The homer was Herrera’s 12th of the year, his first since July 7. Herrera batted .207 and slugged .268 in his first 82 at-bats in July. He struck out looking in the first inning and faced an 0-2 count against Abbott after watching a cutter and sweeper land in the strike zone.

Herrera took a fastball well above the zone to earn a fourth pitch. With two outs and two strikes, Herrera chased a sweeper below the strike zone and lifted it for a homer.

Solo shots bring Reds back

In both instances when they trailed, the Reds received solo homers to close the one-run deficits they faced. The homers came against a starter who had surrendered two since May 30.

Down 1-0 after Fermin’s sacrifice fly provided the game’s first run, De La Cruz saw Leahy miss the strike zone with a fastball and a curveball to begin his at-bat in the third inning. He received a slider for pitch No. 3 and sent it 410 feet for his 18th homer of the year.

After working around a pair of singles in the fourth by recording three of his career-high nine strikeouts, Leahy surrendered a homer to the Reds' No. 9 hitter.

Facing Hayes for a second time on the afternoon, Leahy fell into a 3-1 count against the Reds third baseman as command on his breaking pitches slipped.

Having offered Hayes two sliders, a sweeper and a curveball, Leahy reached back for a fastball but left it atop the strike zone. Hayes drove the 91.8 mph fastball to left field for his third homer in 54 games.

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