ST. LOUIS -- To prove themselves worthy of remaining in the playoff chase, even if they have fallen to the fringes of it with an untimely five-game skid, the Cardinals needed a performance to show that they could still match up with one of the best teams in baseball, manager Oliver Marmol said.

The Cardinals delivered on that demand on Saturday night, smashing three home runs and riding a strong start from Andre Pallante to beat the Dodgers, 5-2, before 41,929 fans at Busch Stadium.

Alec Burleson tomahawked a two-run, line-drive home run in the third inning, rookie Masyn Winn homered for a second straight night and Nolan Arenado blasted his 13th homer late in the night as the Cardinals ended their second-longest losing streak of the season. Pallante, whose spot in the rotation could be in jeopardy with Lance Lynn expected back next week and Steven Matz pitching well in the Minor Leagues, limited the high-powered Dodgers to four hits and two earned runs -- one on a solo home run by Shohei Ohtani -- over seven innings.

The Redbirds, 7-6 losers to the Dodgers on Friday night, woke up on Saturday morning a season-worst 10 games out of first in the National League Central and four games back in the chase for the final Wild Card spot. To make up that deficit, the Cardinals will have to try and survive a 22-game stretch against teams with winning records. After facing the Dodgers, the Cardinals face the Brewers (twice), Twins, Padres, Yankees and Mariners.

“One at a time, man,” Marmol said during the FOX broadcast. “This group is pretty resilient. There are a lot of ups and downs to the season, man, and you can think doomsday, but this group believes in what we have in that clubhouse. We’ve got to take it one game at a time and take our best shot. It’s going to be a lot of fun down this last stretch.”