St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Fiers pitched six scoreless innings and the Milwaukee Brewers blanked the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0 on Monday.
Fiers (2-5) struck out six, yielding just four hits and two walks to help the Brewers win the first of this three-game series. Milwaukee has dropped six straight series against St. Louis.
"This is the kind of game we needed from Mike," said Brewers manager Craig Counsell. "He did a heck of a job."
Jaime Garcia (1-2) suffered the tough-luck loss despite allowing just one hit after the first inning. He was charged with the lone run, striking out four in seven innings.
"Any time you lose a game, you're never happy," said Garcia. "I don't want to say happy, but am I encouraged by the way I'm feeling and physically competing? Yeah."
Jean Segura led off the game with a single against Garcia and moved to second on Ryan Braun's tapper back to the mound. Carlos Gomez delivered an RBI single with his sharp grounder into left.
The Cardinals looked to answer in the home half, when Kolten Wong singled and Matt Holliday extended his on-base streak to 45 games with a walk. But Fiers avoided any damage, fanning Jhonny Peralta and getting Yadier Molina to ground into a fielder's choice.
Garcia was dominant the rest of the way, retiring Milwaukee in order in each of his next five innings. Gomez's infield single in the seventh was the only other blemish on his record.
The Cardinals' best chance came in the eighth inning, when Wong and Holliday singled to put runners on the corners. But Peralta and Molina all struck out to leave them stranded.
Jason Heyward singled to start the ninth and Peter Bourjos drew a two-out walk, but Wong grounded out to first.
Francisco Rodriguez picked up his ninth save.
Game Notes
Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy (toe) went 0-for-4 in his return from the disabled list. He hadn't played since April 20 ... St. Louis outhit Milwaukee, 8-6.
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