Jaime Garcia pitched seven scoreless innings, Matt Carpenter homered, and the Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1, in St. Louis on Saturday.
Garcia (8-4) gave up four hits and a walk while striking out nine for his 50th career win. Kevin Siegrist followed with a scoreless eighth before Trevor Rosenthal gave up a two-out run in the ninth.
Carpenter’s 21st homer was a two-run shot in the seventh and put the Cardinals ahead by 4-0.
The Cardinals pushed their lead over the Pirates back to six and a half games in the National League Central.