Claudio Vargas worked eight innings for the first time in four seasons and was backed by a 19-hit attack in a 12-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

Corey Hart homered, doubled and singled, Kevin Mench matched his career high with four hits and Tony Graffanino had three RBIs. The Brewers won for only the third time in their last 11 road games and took a three-game lead in the NL Central over the Cubs.

Milwaukee is 5-1 against the Cardinals this year, and rebounded nicely after dropping three of four at Cincinnati.

Mike Maroth (0-4) surrendered seven runs and 11 hits and exited after facing one batter in the fifth for the Cardinals, who have dropped three of the first four in a crucial seven-game homestand against the top two teams in the NL Central.

Maroth has a 9.20 ERA in six starts with the starter-starved Cardinals, and in his last three has been particularly horrendous, allowing 23 earned runs and 31 hits in only 14 innings.

Vargas (9-2) won his third straight start, striking out eight and walking one. He allowed two runs and nine hits, striking out the side in the seventh.

The Brewers, who entered with an NL-worst .228 average since the All-Star break, batted around in a five-run third that featured a season-high seven hits. They battered Maroth before and after a 39-minute rain delay in the third, with four hits before the delay and three more when the inning resumed.

Milwaukee batted around again two innings later, scoring four times.