SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Jeff Garcia threw for one touchdown and ran for another Sunday as the San Francisco 49ers snapped a six-game losing streak to the injury-plagued St. Louis Rams, 37-13.
St. Louis is off to its worst start in 39 years and is playing without quarterback Kurt Warner, who has impressive career numbers against San Francisco but is sidelined with a broken finger.
"It's not only great to beat the Rams finally, but it's great to go out and execute the offense much more efficiently than we showed in the last three games," Garcia said. "To finally beat the Rams after going 0-6 myself, it's a great feeling."
"Most of our football team has never beaten the Rams and we needed to do that," 49ers coach Steve Mariucci said. "We kept at it and it was important for this young team to get over this hurdle."
Garcia completed 18 of 26 passes for 214 yards. He threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Stokes in the first quarter and added a six-yard scoring run early in the second.
Garrison Hearst had 13 carries for a season-high 116 yards and a touchdown as San Francisco (3-1) gained 179 of its 386 yards on the ground.
Kevan Barlow added 50 yards on 10 carries for the 49ers, who have run for 431 yards in their last two games.
Wide receiver Terrell Owens, who had just 11 catches in the first three games, caught seven passes for 89 yards.
Jamie Martin took Warner's place for the winless Rams and completed 23 of 40 passes for 232 yards. He was intercepted twice and threw a meaningless touchdown in the final minute.
"I felt comfortable in there," he said. "I saw things better than the last time I played. But I made a couple of bad throws. We just didn't put it in the end zone, which you have to do to score points."
Marshall Faulk ran 18 times for 73 yards and gave the Rams (0-5) a scare when he left the game with back spasms in the second half. He returned but played little in the fourth quarter as St. Louis suffered its most lopsided defeat of the season.
"I can't explain this. I wish I could," St. Louis coach Mike Martz said of his team's struggles. "We've got to put this thing together. This is a real challenge for this group of guys. In this game you've got a standard of performance that's extremely high. I don't know if some of the guys just can't keep up with it."
"We're 0-5, but we have to keep working," Martin said. "We have to keep playing. You don't just quit. It's the same team that was in the Super Bowl last year. We just have to find a way to win the next game."
The Rams were also without tackle Orlando Pace and cornerback Aneas Williams, who missed the first game of his 12-year career and had made 177 straight starts.
Jeff Wilkins capped St. Louis' opening drive with a 38-yard field goal less than four minutes into the game. But San Francisco's Jose Cortez tied it with a 33-yarder on the ensuing drive.
Barlow ran for 27 yards on a 71-yard drive late in the first quarter and Stokes caught his first touchdown of the season with 20 seconds left to give the 49ers the lead for good.
The Rams' ensuing drive lasted just 14 seconds and they were forced to punt on the final play of the first period. Garcia opened the second quarter with a 51-yard pass to Stokes and capped a 96-yard drive with consecutive six yard runs.
It was the first rushing touchdown of the season for Garcia, who had five last season.
The 49ers took a 27-3 lead into halftime after cornerback Jason Webster returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown with 37 seconds to go. It was Webster's first interception of the season and his first touchdown since 2000.
