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Beltran boosts Cards past Brewers

Apr 8, 2012 - 10:09 PM Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - Carlos Beltran went 3-for-5 with a two- run home run, and the Cardinals used another offensive outburst to rout the Brewers, 9-3, on Sunday.

Matt Holliday and Rafael Furcal each scored twice and knocked in a run for St. Louis. The Cardinals were shut out by Zack Greinke on Saturday but scored 11 runs on Friday to win the three-game series.

Lance Lynn (1-0) was strong in his first start in place of the injured Chris Carpenter, tossing 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, striking out eight and issuing one walk with two hits.

"It's nice to know, with the long haul of the season, that we can throw that kind of lineup out there," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. "Lance is a workhorse, but you're not sure what you're going to get sometimes. But he was fun to watch today,"

Randy Wolf (0-1) struck out seven but allowed three runs on nine hits over five innings in a losing effort.

Corey Hart and Ryan Braun each smacked a solo home run but Milwaukee was held to just five hits overall.

"We hope our offense will be more consistent," said Brewers manager Ron Reinke. "If we do that, and our pitchers keep us close, then we'll always have a chance."

Holliday opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI double, and the Cardinals tacked on runs in the fourth and fifth, on run-scoring singles by Furcal and David Freese, respectively.

Hart got Milwaukee on the board with a solo blast in the bottom half of the fifth.

But he watched a ball fly over his head two innings later, when Beltran took Marco Estrada's 1-0 changeup into the right-field seats for a 5-1 lead.

Tyler Greene pushed the advantage to 6-1 in the eighth on a single that scored Furcal before Alex Gonzalez pulled the Brewers to within four once more with an RBI double in the home half of the eighth.

Shane Robinson capped off the scoring for the visitors in the top of the ninth with the first home run of his major-league career, a three-run upper-deck blast.

"I gave him an autographed ball from some of the big guys in here," said Robinson of the fan who caught his home run and delivered it to him after the game. "I was looking for a sinker up in the zone. I felt like I got all of it, but you never know."

Braun took Jason Motte's pitch into the left-center seats in the home half of the ninth, but Milwaukee could not put together a comeback.

Game Notes

Lynn recorded the first hit of his major-league career in the fourth inning...Norichika Aoki had his first major-league hit in the seventh...St. Louis continues a seven-game season-opening road trip at Cincinnati on Monday...Milwaukee travels to Wrigley Field for a four-game set, also starting on Monday.