Cardinals 3, Brewers 0
MILWAUKEE -- Following a script that has worked all season, the St. Louis Cardinals provided their dominant pitching staff with just enough offense to pull out a victory.
Jaime Garcia and a pair of relievers combined on a two-hit, 3-0 shutout of the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on Saturday, as the Cardinals won their fourth straight game.
St. Louis' pitching staff extended its scoreless streak to 36 innings. The streak began with the fifth inning of a 4-3, 13-inning victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday.
Garcia has a 2.12 ERA in three starts since being activated from the disabled list on July 28 after missing over a month with a left groin strain.
Like Garcia, Brewers right-hander Wily Peralta was making his third start since returning from the disabled list. After holding San Francisco to two runs in six innings on July 28, Peralta was roughed up for six runs in 3 1/3 innings against San Diego on Aug. 3.
Peralta put forth a strong effort in a losing cause Saturday, limiting the Cardinals to three runs on five hits over seven innings.
However, the Brewers mustered just two hits off Garcia and relievers Kevin Siegrist and Trevor Rosenthal. Garcia walked four batters but didn't allow a hit after third baseman Elian Herrera led off the bottom of the third inning with a single.
Cardinals rookie left fielder Stephen Piscotty led the offensive attack for St. Louis, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Piscotty drove in a run with a single in the second inning and gave the Cardinals an insurance run with a two-out single in the seventh inning.
Third baseman Matt Carpenter provided early offense for St. Louis by hitting a leadoff home run into the Brewers' bullpen in left-center field. It was Carpenter's fourth leadoff home run of the season and the eighth of his career.
St. Louis tacked on another run off Peralta in the second, as first baseman Mark Reynolds doubled with two outs and scored on Piscotty's single.
NOTES: INF Hector Gomez, sent to Triple-A Colorado Springs by the Brewers on Friday, refused the assignment and elected to become a free agent. ... Cardinals RHP Carlos Villanueva posted his second three-inning save of the year Friday. He's the first Cardinals pitcher with more than one three-inning save in a season since Scott Terry had three in 1988. ... OF Shane Peterson hit .423 (11-for-26) in his first eight games as Milwaukee's center fielder since Carlos Gomez was traded to Houston on July 30. ... St. Louis was holding opponents to a major-league-low .194 batting average with runners in scoring position. That's the lowest mark in baseball since 1974. ... Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash said minor-league RHP Taylor Williams will undergo Tommy John surgery in Milwaukee on Tuesday.