ST. LOUIS -- On a day when Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera reached a milestone, he might have made his biggest contribution with his arm.

Turning a foulout into a key double play with a strong, accurate throw from a step shy of the first base seats, Cabrera helped Detroit get out of eighth-inning trouble, setting the Tigers up for a 4-3, 10-inning win Saturday over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Shortstop Jose Iglesias supplied the tiebreaking hit with a two-out RBI single to right-center field off reliever Matt Belisle (1-1) that chased right fielder J.D. Martinez home from third.

Tigers reliever Blaine Hardy (1-0) pitched the ninth for the win and closer Joakim Soria worked around two singles to pick up his 12th save.

None of it would have been possible without Cabrera, who initiated scoring in the first with his 400th career homer, a 428-foot laser beam through a downpour and over the center field fence, making the big play on defense.

With pinch-runner Pete Kozma at second and none out, reliever Joba Chamberlain induced a popup from first baseman Mark Reynolds. Cabrera made the catch and came up firing as the speedy Kozma tried to take third.

But Cabrera's one-hop dart was right on the money, nailing Kozma by several feet for the second out. Catcher Yadier Molina followed with a line single to center that probably would have scored Kozma with the go-ahead run.

"I wasn't surprised that he tried to go to third," Cabrera said. "The Cardinals are an aggressive team and that's the way they play the game."

That came an inning after pinch-hitter Jason Heyward cost St. Louis (24-12) a run by holding second as right fielder Randal Grichuk pounded a David Price pitch off the base of the left-center field wall.

Apparently feeling that the ball could be caught, Heyward tagged up and only made third. The mistake proved costly when Price fanned third baseman Matt Carpenter and reliever Angel Nesbitt popped up left fielder Matt Holliday.

The Cardinals tacked on a third baserunning blunder to start their half of the 10th. Holliday lined a single to right center and tried to stretch it into a double, but center fielder Rajai Davis' throw to second easily beat him.

"It was a team win," Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said. "There was some great pitching in tight spots and some good defense. It seemed like everyone contributed."

Including Iglesias, who delivered a looper off a 2-2 changeup from Belisle for just his sixth RBI of the year. It was the only hit in five at-bats for Iglesias, who stranded five runners in his previous plate appearances.

However, Ausmus never lost faith in Iglesias.

"He's got a low-maintenance swing," the manager said. "All he does is try to get the barrel to the ball as quickly as he can. I felt good with him up there in that spot."

Belisle blamed himself for the loss, pointing out that he issued a leadoff walk to Martinez.

"That just can't happen," he said. "I don't walk very many people. You can spin the rest of it however you want, but that loss is on me. You just can't walk the leadoff man in that spot."

Neither starter was around for the decision. Price threw a season-high 117 pitches in 6 2/3 innings, fanning nine and walking two while allowing seven hits and three runs. All the runs were the result of solo homers by Carpenter, center fielder Peter Bourjos and shortstop Jhonny Peralta.

St. Louis left-hander Tyler Lyons departed after 3 2/3 innings, yielding seven hits and three runs with two walks and five strikeouts. The bullpen followed with six scoreless innings before Iglesias' winning hit.

The Tigers (23-14) won their third straight and became the first road team to win a series in Busch Stadium this year.

"A great game," summed up Cabrera. "We got the lead late and held on." NOTES: St. Louis activated OF Randal Grichuk (lower back strain) from the 15-day disabled list and started him in right field, leading him off. Grichuk collected two hits and a walk in five plate appearances. ... Detroit had four players collect three or more hits in each of the last two games, the first time that's happened since Oakland pulled it off on June 12-13, 2004. ... The Cardinals optioned OF Xavier Scruggs to Triple-A Memphis to make room for Grichuk. Scruggs got a pinch at-bat in his two days with St. Louis, flying out to end the sixth inning Friday night. ... The game was delayed for 80 minutes in the bottom of the first by rain.