ST. LOUIS — After the Milwaukee Brewers missed on three run-scoring opportunities Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals took advantage of theirs.
Scoring in each of the last three innings, St. Louis blanked Milwaukee 4-0 in the rubber game of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.
Starter John Lackey (1-0) worked seven innings for the win, scattering five hits and walking one while striking out eight. Lackey recorded a strikeout in every inning and retired the last seven hitters he faced.
Mike Fiers (0-2) matched Lackey until the bottom of the sixth, when he found trouble on an unsuccessful third pass through the lineup.
Third baseman Matt Carpenter led off with a double to right-center and scored on a one-out single to center by left fielder Matt Holliday. After Holliday stole second, he moved to third on a single by shortstop Jhonny Peralta.
First baseman Mark Reynolds doubled to the wall in left-center, plating Holliday and ending the day for Fiers. The right-hander pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and two runs, with a walk and four strikeouts.
Carpenter made it 3-0 in the seventh when he ripped a two-out double off reliever Will Smith, bringing second baseman Kolten Wong home. Catcher Yadier Molina’s two-out RBI single in the eighth scored left fielder Randal Grichuk to cap the scoring.
The Brewers (2-7) stranded men at first and second in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Lackey maneuvered out of the last jam by inducing a pop-up from first baseman Adam Lind, who entered the day 15-of-28 against Lackey.
That was it for the Milwaukee offense, which managed just a meaningless single over the last four innings.
Carpenter, Peralta, Reynolds and Molina each registered two hits for the Cardinals (5-3).
NOTES: Milwaukee CF Carlos Gomez, who suffered a hamstring injury in the ninth inning Wednesday, returned to Milwaukee for further examination and could wind up on the disabled list. … St. Louis 3B Matt Carpenter’s four-RBI game Sunday at Cincinnati was the first for a Cardinals’ leadoff man since Rafael Furcal did it on Aug. 3, 2011, against Milwaukee. … St. Louis LF Matt Holliday entered the game with a .455 on-base percentage, seventh in the National League.