Cardinals 9, Cubs 6: Matt Holliday broke open a tie game in the eighth inning with a two-run single as St. Louis split a four-game weekend series at home with Chicago.

The Cardinals rallied back from a five-run deficit to tie the game at 6-6 in the seventh before loading the bases with one out in the eighth against Carlos Villanueva (5-7). Randal Grichuk struck out before Holliday hit a line drive off the rubber on the pitching mound that caromed into left field and Jhonny Peralta followed with another run-scoring single.

Holliday went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, Pat Neshek (7-1) tossed a scoreless eighth and Trevor Rosenthal worked around a walk in the ninth for his 40th save for St. Louis, which pulled into a tie with Milwaukee in the National League Central and maintained its 1 1/2-game lead for the second wild card. Luis Valbuena and Chris Coghlan had three hits and two RBIs apiece for the Cubs.

St. Louis starter John Lackey worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the first before Chicago opened the floodgates in the second as Chris Valaika scored when Lackey sailed a throw over first baseman Daniel Descalso on Travis Wood’s sacrifice bunt. Coghlan followed with a two-run single and Valbuena capped the five-run inning by lifting a 1-1 changeup into the right-field seats.

St. Louis chipped away with Holliday’s solo shot in the fourth and closed within 5-4 in the fifth on Kolten Wong’s homer to begin the inning and run-scoring doubles from Matt Carpenter and Holliday. Arismendy Alcantara temporarily stopped the surge with a solo blast to left, but the Cardinals pulled even for the first time in the seventh on consecutive two-out RBI singles by Peralta and Yadier Molina.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Cubs 1B Anthony Rizzo (back) missed his fifth straight game. … Wood gave up four runs on six hits and three walks in 4 2/3 frames while Lackey was charged with five runs (two earned) on nine hits over 6 1/3 innings. … Cardinals 2B Wong exited in the eighth inning after banging his head and feeling dizzy, but initial tests revealed no concussion .