Milwaukee, WI – Allen Craig and Pete Kozma drove in two runs apiece to lead the St. Louis Cardinals past the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-5, in the opener of a four-game set at Miller Park.
Yadier Molina and David Freese both added two hits and an RBI for the Cardinals, winners in seven of their last 10 games.
Jake Westbrook (2-1) yielded just one run on six hits while striking out four over six innings. Edward Mujica allowed one run, but stranded a runner in the ninth to pick up his seventh save of the season.
"It was exciting to watch the guys celebrate with him," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Westbrook, who picked up with 100th career win.
Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez both had two hits and drove in a run, while Jean Segura, Martin Maldonado and Alex Gonzalez added one RBI apiece for the Brewers, losers in five of their last eight.
Wily Peralta (2-2) was saddled with the loss after giving up six runs on 11 hits over 4 1/3 innings.
St. Louis scored all six of their runs with two outs in the third inning.
With the bases loaded, Craig ripped a base hit to left field to score Westbrook and Matt Carpenter. Molina and Freese followed with back-to-back RBI base hits, and Kozma capped the inning with a two-run single to left.
"You see some weird things, and it is not always fair. They got a few broken bat hits, but also hit the ball hard and had a few ground balls that just got through," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "Peralta made some decent pitches in that third inning, but they got some hits."
Maldonado got the Brewers on the board with an RBI single in the fourth.
Milwaukee added two more in the seventh inning to pull within 6-3. With runners on second and third, Segura lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Logan Schafer. Later in the frame, reliever Joe Kelly walked Rickie Weeks to load the bases before issuing a free pass to Carlos Gomez, forcing a run in.
Braun's RBI single in the eighth made it 6-4, and Gonzalez pushed a run across with a two-out base hit in the ninth inning, but Mujica was able to get pinch- hitter Jonathan Lucroy to strike out to end the game.
Game Notes
St. Louis went 5-for-8 with runners in scoring position ... Westbrook hasn't allowed a home run over 33 2/3 innings this season ... Milwaukee lost for just the fifth time this season when scoring at least four runs ... Gomez, who went 2-for-4, extended his hitting streak to nine games ... After the game the Brewers announced third baseman Aramis Ramirez will be reinstated from the 15- day disabled list on Friday. To make room for Ramirez on the active roster, Milwaukee optioned outfielder Josh Prince to Triple-A Nashville.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.