ST. LOUIS -- The Texas Rangers are making this winning-after-falling-behind bit a habit.

After the St. Louis Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning, the Rangers took advantage of an error by Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma to score twice in the seventh and went on to win their fifth game in a row Sunday night, sweeping the three-game series from their 2011 World Series opponent.

Each of Texas’ last eight victories beginning June 9 have come after the Rangers trailed in the game. It was the fifth time the winning rally came in the seventh inning or later.

It was the Rangers’ 24th come-from-behind victory of the season, the most in the majors.

Finally solve Wainwright: Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright kept the Rangers off the scoreboard until the seventh inning. With two outs, David Murphy lined a double. Then on a 3-2 pitch, Leonys Martin singled up the middle to bring Murphy home with the tying run.

Dropped ball: Trevor Rosenthal relieved Wainwright and looked as if he was going to get the third out of the inning, when pinch hitter Jurickson Profar hit a soft liner to Kozma, who promptly dropped the ball for an error.

That opened the door for Ian Kinsler, the next hitter, and he delivered a single to left that scored Martin with the go-ahead run.

Carpenter’s big swing: Texas starter Nick Tepesch was keeping pace with Wainwright until the sixth, when Matt Carpenter connected on a 2-2 pitch and knocked it into the Cardinals’ bullpen in right feld.

It was the sixth homer of the year for Carpenter, a graduate of Prosper (Texas) High School and Texas Christian University. It was the 10th homer allowed by Tepesch in 76 innings.

Slow getting started after long wait: After sitting out a rain delay that lasted 2 hours, 59 minutes, both offenses were slow to get going. The Rangers collected only three singles off Wainwright through the first five innings and did not advance any of them past first base.

Tepesch, a Missouri native who pitched at the University of Missouri, kept the Cardinals without a hit through the first four innings, allowing his only baserunners on a hit batter -- who was erased in a double play -- and a walk. The Rangers finally got their first two hits with one out in the fifth, when David Freese singled to left and Jon Jay beat out an infield hit.

Tepesch was able to get out of the jam by striking out Pete Kozma and retiring Wainwright on a fielder’s choice grounder to keep the game scoreless.

Big improvement: Following Carpenter’s homer, the Cardinals got two more runners on base against Tepesch in the sixth on a walk and a single, but he retired Yadier Molina on a fly to center to end his night after 5⅔ innings. Robbie Ross relieved and retired Freese to get out of the jam.

The outing was a major improvement from Tepesch’s last three games, when he allowed 19 hits and 17 earned runs in 15⅔ innings, a 9.77 ERA for those games. He went 0-2 and had a no-decision.

Up next: The Rangers head to the Big Apple, where after Monday’s day off, they will open a three-game series against the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. Yu Darvish (7-3, 2.84 ERA) will be opposed by Hiroki Kuroda (7-5, 2.78 ERA).