The St. Louis Cardinals finished a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros with a 5-4 win Thursday afternoon. The Cardinals took an early lead when Allen Craig homered to center field in the bottom of the first, giving St. Louis a 3-1 advantage. Houston scored two runs in the third to tie the score, but a Carlos Beltran double in the sixth brought home two runs and restored the two-run lead. A seventh-inning RBI single by Brandon Barnes was all Houston could muster against the Cardinal bullpen.
St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia got the win after giving up three runs on six hits over six innings of work. The win takes Garcia to 5-7 on the year. Jason Motte got his 38th save of the season after a scoreless ninth inning. Bud Norris got the loss for Houston, falling to 5-13 on the season.
The win extends the Cardinals' wild card lead to 2½ games with 12 games to play. St. Louis next heads to Wrigley Field for a three-game series with the Cubs starting Friday afternoon.
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