Milwaukee, WI – Allen Craig doubled, tripled and drove in four runs and Matt Holliday had a two-run homer with three RBI to help the St. Louis Cardinals take a 10-1 victory and sweep the Milwaukee Brewers in a four- game series for the first time in franchise history.
Shane Robinson and Yadier Molina each drove in one run for the Cardinals, who added to a season-high with six straight victories. St. Louis has also won its last seven road tilts.
Jaime Garcia (4-1) eased through eight frames, giving up one run on eight hits with a walk and three strikeouts to earn in his fourth victory of the year.
"That's hard to do," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said of the four-game sweep. "Proud of how the guys played. We were excited to come in and do the job well. I think it was just a little bit of everything."
Alfredo Figaro drove in the only run for Milwaukee, losers of five straight, all of which have come at Miller Park. Marco Estrada (2-2) struggled through 3 1/3 innings, allowing eight runs on six hits and five walks while striking out five in defeat.
St. Louis erupted for six runs in the second thanks to three hits, three walks and a hit batter charged to Estrada.
Early in the inning, however, things looked promising after Garcia struck out with a foul bunt for the second out of the frame. Runners remained on first and second, but things quickly changed.
Jon Jay was plunked to load the bases and Estrada issued back-to-back run- scoring walks to Robinson and Holliday which made it 2-0. Craig then smacked a bases clearing double to left, before Molina's single plated Craig, and ended the scoring barrage.
Two innings later, Holliday clubbed a two-run shot to left, his fifth of the season, to give the Cards a 8-0 lead.
"It was a really good one against a tough team," Garcia said, "with a tough lineup and a tough place to pitch. I was able to keep the ball down with my sinker. I felt strong enough to finish, but I respect the manager's decision."
Milwaukee registered its only run in the fifth. Carlos Gomez hit a leadoff double and moved to third on a fly out to right. Figaro then drove a single up the middle, scoring Gomez.
Craig stayed hot in the sixth with an RBI triple to deep center to give the visitors a 9-1 advantage. Tony Cruz drove in his first run on the season with a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth to account for the final margin.
"It was just a bad series." Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said. "We don't do it very often at home. They've been playing really good, we had two good games and two bad games. But when we're playing good baseball, and things are going well, we can play with anybody."
Game Notes
Milwaukee fell to 4-3 this season in Estrada's starts ... Estrada has given up 11 homers this season and allowed at least one in each of his seven starts ... The Cardinals last had a seven-game road winning streak from July 18-30, 2004 ... Holliday also scored three times ... Gomez has a 12-game hitting streak.
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