St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Carlos Gomez had two hits, including an RBI double, helping the Milwaukee Brewers beat Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.
Matt Garza (1-1) picked up the win despite giving up two runs -- one earned -- on six hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings.
"I felt a little out of whack and had to keep making pitches," Garza said. "I'm not proud of five walks, but anyway you can get it done."
The Brewers played their first road game of the season after being outscored 36-16 by Colorado and Pittsburgh during a 1-5 homestand.
The Cardinals went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position in their home opener, stranding 12 men on base.
"We couldn't get that big hit when we needed it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.
Wainwright (1-1) pitched on seven days' rest after beating the Cubs last Sunday and yielded five runs -- three earned -- on eight hits and a walk, striking out four.
Jhonny Peralta had two hits and two RBI for the Cardinals, who went 3-2 on their rain-shortened road trip to start the season.
The Brewers took a 5-2 lead in the seventh inning on their first two RBI hits of the day -- Gomez's double and Jonathan Lucroy's single -- before Wainwright got Ryan Braun on a double play to end the inning.
The Cardinals pulled within 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh when Braun let Peralta's hit get past him in right field for a two-run double. The Brewers intentionally walked Kolten Wong with a man at third, putting the go-ahead run on, but the gamble worked when Randal Grichuk grounded out.
Francisco Rodriguez earned his first save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth. He threw his glove up near his head to catch a sharp line drive hit by Peralta for the first out.
Leadoff baserunners produced two runs for each team in the first four innings.
Gomez scored in the first inning after reaching base on Wong's error and a leadoff single by Kris Davis led to another Brewers run in the second.
A leadoff double by Matt Carpenter helped get St. Louis on the board in the third and back-to-back walks by Yadier Molina and Wong in the fourth helped the Cardinals tie the score at 2-2 when Wainwright bunted and shortstop Jean Segura overthrew first base trying to turn a double play.
Milwaukee scored a third consecutive run via a groundout and took a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning after Braun led off with a single, went to third on Adam Lind's double and came home on Aramis Ramirez's grounder to short.
Game Notes
The Cardinals activated catcher Tony Cruz from the paternity leave list and optioned catcher Ed Easley to Triple-A Memphis ... The Brewers beat St. Louis for the second time in their last six meetings.