Cardinals 6, Brewers 0
MILWAUKEE -- Backed by a six-run fifth inning, right-hander Lance Lynn tossed six scoreless innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday at Miller Park.
Lynn allowed six hits and walked four but repeatedly worked out of trouble to collect his ninth win of the season.
It was St. Louis' 12th shutout of the season, as the Cardinals lowered their major-league leading team ERA to 2.60.
Making his second career start and his first since being recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Tuesday, Brewers rookie right-hander Tyler Cravy was roughed up for six runs on eight hits over five innings.
The six runs marked the most St. Louis has scored in support of Lynn since May 12. Lynn entered Friday with the fourth-lowest average run support among National League starters at 2.82.
Lynn didn't work a clean frame all night and allowed multiple runners to reach in four of his six innings of work.
After striking out left fielder Khris Davis to strand two in the first, Lynn worked out of a jam again in the second.
A one-out single by third baseman Elian Herrera put runners at the corners with one for Cravy, who sacrificed Herrera to second. Lynn then got second baseman Scooter Gennett to pop out to third base on a 3-1 pitch to end the inning.
Cravy, who allowed just one run over seven innings against the Cardinals in his major-league debut on June 2, appeared on his way to another quality outing against St. Louis after beginning the game with four scoreless innings.
The Cardinals broke through against Cravy with a six-run fifth inning.
First baseman Brandon Moss led off with a double off the right-field wall and came around to score when left fielder Stephen Piscotty doubled to left one batter later. Third baseman Matt Carpenter made it 2-0 with St. Louis' third double of the inning, a screamer off the wall in right-center field.
Right fielder Jason Heyward kept the inning alive with a two-out RBI single to center, and center fielder Randal Grichuk capped the frame with a three-run home run.
The Brewers had plenty of early chances against Lynn, collecting at least one base runner in each of the first four innings. Milwaukee had runners at the corners with one out in the second but failed to score.
NOTES: The Brewers recalled INF Jason Rogers from Triple-A Colorado Springs. To clear room on the 25-man roster, Milwaukee sent INF Hector Gomez outright to Triple-A Colorado Springs. ... Looking to add an extra arm to their bullpen, the Cardinals recalled LHP Tyler Lyons from Triple-A Memphis on Friday. Lyons takes the roster spot of INF Greg Garcia, who was optioned to Memphis on Thursday after a 3-0 victory over Cincinnati. ... Cardinals 3B Matt Carpenter is batting .393 with a National League-best five home runs and nine runs scored since returning to the leadoff spot July 30. ... In 19 career games at Miller Park, Cardinals SS Jhonny Peralta is hitting .466 with eight home runs and 17 RBIs. ... RHP Jonathan Broxton has tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts for the Cardinals since his trade from Milwaukee to St. Louis on July 31. Broxton was 1-2 with a 5.89 ERA in 40 games for the Brewers.