ST. LOUIS – Scott Seabol’s first career homer, a two-run, pinch-hit shot off Tanyon Sturtze in the seventh inning, provided the go-ahead run in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 5-3 victory over the sputtering Yankees yesterday.

St. Louis concluded a high-profile week by taking two of three from the Yankees, New York’s fifth straight series loss, after taking two of three from Boston in a World Series rematch.

Eighth-place hitter Yadier Molina was 3-for-3 and scored twice, and singled ahead of Seabol’s homer on the first pitch he saw from Sturtze (1-1) with one out in the seventh. Seabol, who made his major league debut in 2001 and got one at-bat with the Yankees, hit his first homer in 37 career at bats for a 3-2 lead.

Jim Edmonds added a two-run double to help the Cardinals win for the 18th time in 21 interleague games dating to 2003. Ray King (1-1) gave up the go-ahead run on Hideki Matsui’s single in the seventh but retired Bernie Williams for the final out of the inning.

The Yankees wasted a strong outing by Carl Pavano and wrapped up a dismal 3-9 trip that dropped them two games below .500. Jorge Posada homered, and Alex Rodriguez and Matsui each drove in a run for the Yankees, who have lost 11 of 14 overall.

The Yankees also lost Matsui, their iron-man outfielder, with a leg injury in the seventh. Matsui slipped and fell while chasing Edmonds’s double and had to be assisted from the field by manager Joe Torre and a team trainer, al though he seemed to be walking fine. Matsui has played in 387 consecutive games since joining the Yankees and has a streak of 1,637 games counting his time with the Yomiyuri Giants in Japan.

Pavano, who had lost his previous three starts, worked six innings and gave up one run on six hits with two strikeouts and one walk. Cardinals starter Matt Morris had a similar line, also giving up a run on six hits in six innings with five strikeouts and three walks.

Both teams had failed rallies in the sixth. The Yankees had runners on second and third before Albert Pujols made a diving stop on a smash by Pavano and then beat him to the bag for the third out. The Cardinals loaded the bases in the bottom half before Reggie Sanders grounded into a double play.

Molina doubled and scored on David Eckstein’s RBI single through a drawn-in infield in the third to put the Cardinals ahead. The Yankees tied it on consecutive two-out hits in the fifth, a single by Tony Womack and Rodriguez’s double.

Posada hit his eighth homer, and first since May 24, off Julian Tavarez in the eighth to cut the gap to 5-3.