Cardinals 7, Brewers 0
ST. LOUIS -- Jaime Garcia set a career high Thursday on the way to his first shutout in five years.
The left-hander fanned 13 en route to a one-hitter, leading the St. Louis Cardinals past the Milwaukee Brewers 7-0 in the rubber game of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.
Domingo Santana's two-out single in the sixth inning marked one of just three base runners against Garcia (1-0). Keon Broxton reached first on a wild pitch after strike three in the third and Martin Maldonado coaxed a leadoff walk in the eighth.
Garcia's fourth career shutout was his first since May 6, 2011, when he mowed down the first 22 Milwaukee batters before settling for a two-hitter. He finished the outing in style, slipping a called third strike past Scooter Gennett on his 103rd and final pitch of the day.
He also chipped in offensively with two singles, the first extending a three-run second so that Matt Carpenter could hammer a two-out, two-run double to right-center field off Wily Peralta (0-3) for a 3-0 advantage.
St. Louis (5-4) did the rest of its scoring via the long ball.
Randal Grichuk belted a two-run shot in the third, the ball caroming off Broxton's glove and nestling in the lawn just above the center-field wall. Grichuk appeared to pass Brandon Moss, who was standing between first and second as Broxton tried to make the play, but the umpires didn't make a call.
Rookie right fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker capped the scoring with a two-run homer off reliever Chris Capuano in the seventh, his third homer of the year. Hazelbaker went 2-for-5 and is 13-for-27 in his first nine major league games.
Carpenter reached base three times, doubling twice, and Grichuk and Yadier Molina each added two hits. Kolten Wong had a sacrifice fly that started the scoring in the second.
Peralta was charged with five runs, seven hits and two walks in five innings while finishing with five strikeouts. He has been touched for 15 earned runs in 13 1/3 innings in his first three starts.
NOTES: St. Louis SS Ruben Tejada (left quad strain) started a rehab assignment on Thursday at Double-A Springfield. He could be activated as soon as Sunday. ... Milwaukee OF Ramon Flores' single in the fourth inning on Wednesday night gave him the first RBI of his MLB career. ... The Cardinals have scored 22 runs with two outs and have 19 two-out RBI, second in the majors to San Francisco's 24.