St. Louis, MO – Staked with a four-run lead, Chris Carpenter 3, at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals batted around in a four-run first inning, though their NL Central rivals chipped away at the lead and pulled within a run when Mark Kotsay homered into the right-field bullpen leading off the third.
But Carpenter (2-0) allowed just one more hit in his five-inning start and a relief effort consisting of Fernando Salas, Lance Lynn, Marc Rzepczynski and Jason Motte combined for four perfect frames to take a 2-1 series lead.
Albert Pujols continued his torrid postseason by going 2-for-2 with two walks and a run-scoring double, while David Freese added to October heroics with three hits, including the deciding RBI double in the first.
Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo (1-1) was touched for four runs on eight hits and five walks while battling through five innings.
Milwaukee will look to even the series on Thursday when Randy Wolf takes the mound opposite Kyle Lohse.
