Rookie Victor Scott II had a career-high three hits and scored the run that broke the scoreless tie in the seventh inning, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.
“Three hits is awesome, but a win is even better,” Scott said. “We’re all locked in.”
Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson each contributed two hits to the nine-hit effort for St. Louis.
The Cardinals won the last two games of the series after losing seven of their previous nine games. This was St. Louis’s seventh shutout win of the season.
“There’s a good vibe and energy in that clubhouse right now, in how they’re attacking every day,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “All you can do is stay present and take it one pitch at a time. This was a solid win for sure.
That’s a good baseball team across the way. They’ve been playing good baseball, so to take that series is important.”
The Brewers, who lead the Central Division, had won six straight games before losing two in a row to the second-place Cardinals, who are still 10 games behind Milwaukee.
“That’s a team with nothing to lose,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
Milwaukee managed just three hits, with only one after the first inning. After William Contreras, their third batter, singled, the Brewers did not get another hit until the ninth inning with one out.
Andrew Kittridge (2-4) earned the win with one inning of work. Ryan Helsley pitched the ninth inning to earn his major league-leading 39th save in 42 chances.
Nick Mears (1-5) allowed all three runs on three hits and a walk while recording only two outs in the Cardinals’ three-run seventh inning.
“That wasn’t very good,” Murphy said.
The Cardinals loaded the bases with three singles and one out. Willson Contreras drew a walk on a 3-2 fastball after being down 0-2 in the count, scoring Scott for the game’s first run.
