Villanueva entered the game with two runners on and already four runs scored in the third inning, after starter Marco Gonzales lasted just 2 2/3 innings. Villanueva struck out Michael Taylor to keep the score 4-0 and then cruised for three more innings of scoreless ball.
"I knew I was going to try to go multiple innings there, just keep the game where it was," Villanueva said. "The way we've been playing, the way we've been scoring runs in bunches, you kind of feel like the boys are going to come back."
With Villanueva righting the ship, the Cardinals scored three in the third and two more in the eighth to tie it, setting up Brandon Moss' game-winning homer in the ninth.