Cardinals 7, Brewers 4
ST. LOUIS -- It took the St. Louis Cardinals one inning Wednesday to do what they couldn't accomplish in their previous six games.
Scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning, St. Louis posted a 7-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium.
Benefitting from the support was starter John Lackey (4-3), who scattered 10 hits over seven innings, giving up three runs. In beating Milwaukee for the second time this year, Lackey walked one and fanned five.
The Cardinals (35-18) jumped all over Jimmy Nelson (2-6), putting their first six batters on base. Second baseman Kolten Wong doubled, third baseman Matt Carpenter singled and left fielder Matt Holliday walked to fill the bases.
Shortstop Jhonny Peralta singled Wong home and an error by third baseman Hector Gomez on a grounder by left fielder Randal Grichuk plated Carpenter. First baseman Mark Reynolds lined an RBI single, followed by sacrifice flies from catcher Yadier Molina and right fielder Jason Heyward.
The Brewers (18-36) got on the board in the third with a one-out solo homer to right by right fielder Gerardo Parra, his third of the year. But Carpenter stroked a two-run single in the fourth to give St. Louis a 7-1 lead.
Gomez ripped an RBI double in the sixth, then left in the inning's bottom after taking a scary fall into the third base stands while chasing a popup. Milwaukee removed him for precautionary reasons and tests for a concussion proved negative.
First baseman Adam Lind knocked in two runs with a seventh-inning groundout and a ninth-inning single. Milwaukee outhit the Cardinals 14-10, with Parra going 4-for-5. Lind, shortstop Jean Segura and catcher Jonathan Lucroy each supplied two hits.
Carpenter, Peralta and Molina each registered two hits for St. Louis, which finished 7-2 on its nine-game homestand and improved to 22-7 at home.
Closer Trevor Rosenthal got the last two outs for his 17th save in 18 chances.
NOTES: Milwaukee recalled OF Shane Peterson from Triple-A Colorado Springs and started him in the sixth position, playing left field. Peterson hit .320 with seven homers and 27 RBIs in 47 games for Colorado Springs. ... Monday and Tuesday night's games were the first back-to-back 1-0 games played by St. Louis since it started the 2014 season in Cincinnati, winning on Opening Day and losing two nights later. ... To make room for Peterson, the Brewers optioned Tuesday night's starter, RHP Tyler Cravy, to Colorado Springs. Cravy allowed only one run and four hits in seven innings, but took the loss.