The Cardinals pitched to Aaron Judge in the third inning on Friday and got away with it.
Then Austin Wells got them anyway.
The Yankees have been looking for protection for Judge and Juan Soto all year.
Against right-hander Erick Fedde, the lefty-swinging Wells hit cleanup behind Judge.
After Soto’s RBI double tied the game earlier in the third and Judge popped out, Wells delivered a two-run, go-ahead homer in a 6-3 win in front of a sellout crowd in The Bronx.
Austin Wells homered twice for the Yankees during their win on Aug. 30.
Juan Soto reacts after hitting an RBI double during the Yankees’ win over the Cardinals on Aug. 30.
The catcher hit another two-run shot in the eighth to help seal the win.
The victory came after the Yankees dropped two of three to the lowly Nationals in Washington.
The Yankees also got another encouraging start from Marcus Stroman, who gave up two runs in seven innings, as he pitched around nine hits.
It left the Cardinals still looking for their first win at Yankee Stadium since the 1964 World Series.
St. Louis threatened in the second with a one-out double by Paul Goldschmidt followed by an infield single by Lars Nootbaar that put runners on the corners.
Stroman got Jordan Walker swinging for the second out and Pedro Pages to fly out to center.
The Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the inning, sparked by Giancarlo Stanton’s rocket leadoff double.
Stanton, who entered 5-for-7 versus Fedde, moved to third on a Jazz Chisholm Jr. grounder and scored on Anthony Volpe’s sacrifice fly.
Stroman allowed four straight two-out singles in the third.
Gleyber Torres attempts to turn a double play during the Yankees’ win against the Cardinals on Aug. 30.
Marcus Stroman threw seven innings for the Yankees during their win against the Cardinals on Aug. 30.
Brendan Donovan’s run-scoring base hit through the right side of the infield tied the game and Goldschmidt’s single to center gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
Soto, coming off a miserable 0-for-12 series against his former team in Washington, tied the game again in the third with his second hit of the night.
The double to center scored Gleyber Torres from first.
Juan Soto collected two hits for the Yankees during their win on Aug. 30.
Wells then hit his first homer of the night, a shot to right-center, to make it 4-2.
His second shot, also to right-center, was his 12th of the season.
Stroman, meanwhile, cruised after the third.
After needing 61 pitches to get through three innings, the right-hander threw just 37 over the next four in his longest outing since June 22.
Jake Cousins gave up a two-out solo shot to Nolan Arenado in the eighth to make it a one-run game.
Tommy Kahnle finished the inning before Clay Holmes picked up the save, as the closer overcame some shaky defense by Volpe.
