Chris Carpenter overcame a shaky second inning and Skip Schumaker drove in the go-ahead run with a ground-rule double in the seventh, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-4 win over the Oakland A's on Friday night.

Matt Holliday hit a two-run homer in the first and finished with three hits and three RBIs.

Oakland scored all of its runs in the second off Carpenter. Rajai Davis, who went 4-for-5, had an RBI single. Connor Jackson, recently acquired in a trade with Arizona, put the A's ahead with a two-run double, before Kurt Suzuki's RBI single made it a 4-2 game.

Carpenter (8-1) allowed four runs and 10 hits while striking out five and walking two.

Run-scoring singles by Holliday and Albert Pujols tied the game in the fifth.

St. Louis took the lead for good in the seventh against reliever Brad Ziegler (2-4). Schumaker's double broke the tie before Ryan Ludwick's RBI single made it 6-4.

Ryan Franklin pitched the ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances.

Oakland starter Vin Mazzaro allowed four runs in five innings in the no-decision.