St. Louis, MO – Jaime Garcia allowed one unearned run over 7 1/3 innings as the St. Louis Cardinals downed the New York Mets, 5-1, in the middle test of a three-game set at Busch Stadium.
Garcia (4-6) gave up nine hits and struck out five without issuing a walk to pick up his first win since May 16.
"He had a nice approach," Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny said of Garcia. "It was a nice job of sticking with what his strengths are."
David Freese and Daniel Descalso both tallied two hits and drove in one run apiece for the Cardinals, who have won three of their last four.
Matt Harvey (3-4) gave up three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four to absorb the loss. The rookie lasted just five innings.
"I'm not happy about it," Harvey said of his performance. "I should have been better."
David Wright, Ruben Tejada and Scott Hairston each picked up a pair of hits and Mike Baxter drove in the lone run for the Mets, who fell for just the third time in 10 games.
The Cardinals got on the board with three runs in the second. With runners on second and third and no outs, Skip Schumaker ripped a line drive single to left to score Yadier Molina. Descalso followed with a single of his own to center to bring home Freese, and Matt Carpenter's sacrifice fly plated Schumaker.
St. Louis added a run in both the sixth and the seventh to push its spread to 5-0.
In the sixth, Descalso singled and moved to second on Garcia's sacrifice bunt before stealing third. Jon Jay followed with a groundout to score Descalso.
In the seventh, Matt Holliday walked, but was replaced by Ardon Chambers on the bases after experiencing lower back stiffness. Holliday is considered day- to-day.
Chambers moved to second on Molina's base hit before scoring when Freese stroked a single through the hole at shortstop.
The Mets put one on the board in the eighth. With the bases loaded and one out, Baxter lifted a sacrifice fly to left to score Justin Turner.
Game Notes
Prior to the game the Cardinals recalled Chambers and infielder Ryan Jackson from Triple-A Memphis and purchased the contract of pitcher Shelby Miller from Memphis ... Garcia made his fourth start since June 5 after missing 64 games with a left shoulder strain ... The New York Mets today recalled outfielder Jordany Valdespin, right-handed pitchers Elvin Ramirez, Jenrry Mejia and Jeurys Familia from Triple-A Buffalo and selected the contracts of pitcher Justin Hampson and outfielder Fred Lewis from Buffalo ... Harvey lost for the first time in three starts.
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