Garcia, Cardinals muzzle Brewers 5-0

[July 03, 2010]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Rookie Jaime Garcia bounced back from his worst start with seven innings of three-hit ball and Matt Holliday doubled twice and drove in a run in the St. Louis Cardinals' 5-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.

Garcia (8-4) retired his last 13 hitters and had seven strikeouts, five days after giving up five runs in two innings with no strikeouts in a loss at Kansas City. The lefty got his biggest out when Prince Fielder tapped out to first with the bases loaded to end the first.

He beat the Brewers for the second time, matched his career best for innings and strikeouts, and lowered his ERA to 2.10. The ERA is even better at home, a minuscule 1.20 to go with a 3-1 record in seven starts.

Garcia's only miscue came on the basepaths. He went in standing up on what had appeared to be a clear-cut double off Chris Narveson leading off the fifth and was thrown out by right fielder Corey Hart just before callup Tyler Greene homered into the third deck in left field.

Hart had two hits for Milwaukee, which had won eight of its previous 11.

Narveson (7-5) came up with the Cardinals and has struggled early in two starts this year against St. Louis. The Cardinals scored four runs on three extra-base hits against the lefty on June 5 and opened with two runs on four hits in the first on Friday, the first on Albert Pujols' double-play ball and the second on Nick Stavinoha's RBI single.

Felipe Lopez doubled to open the third for his second hit and scored with one out on Pujols' sacrifice fly, Greene's second homer made it 4-0 in the fifth and Holliday's doubled off Trevor Hoffman in the eighth made it 5-0.

Fielder didn't get a ball out of the infield in three at-bats against Garcia, but he wasn't alone. There were no outfield putouts while Garcia was on the mound.

NOTES: FoxSports Midwest telecast the game to troops in Afghanistan. ... Willie Randolph is filling in for Brewers 3B coach Brad Fischer, who's missing the weekend for his daughter's wedding. Head trainer Roger Caplinger is attending to his ailing father. ... C George Kottaras will play Saturday, partly because Jonathan Lucroy has more trouble handling LHP Manny Parra's splitters in the dirt. ... Lou Brock threw out the first pitch on "Brockabrella night." ... C Yadier Molina was assessed an error after whiffing on a foul pop in the seventh, but official scorer Mike Smith reconsidered after replays showed Molina stumbling over a bat in the Brewers' on-deck circle just before the ball arrived.

[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]

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