So he was when he hit in the ninth against a fading Melancon, against whom Wong was only one for 10.

“He’s one of the most dominant pitchers I’ve faced in my whole career,” Wong said. “My numbers aren’t great against him, so I was trying to look for something away.”

Wong took a curveball he expected down the right-field line. “That’s what we needed,” he said.

The Cardinals didn’t play their usual airtight defense in the infield, being charged with one error by Wong and then, initially, two on the play in the sixth before having one taken away.

“There were some weird plays,” said Wong. “I was kind of put in some tough situations.

“The first error I made — that was really the only play that I had. (Josh) Donaldson, off the bat, was going down the line pretty good. I caught the ball in front of second base and tried to flip it and couldn’t get a good hand on it.”

In the sixth, with the bases loaded and two out, Dansby Swanson hit a grounder that took a bad hop off the chest of third baseman Tommy Edman. The carom went to DeJong, who then took the only play he thought he had, throwing across his body to second baseman Wong, trying for the forceout.