ST. LOUIS, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Jaime Garcia hurled his first career shutout Sunday, blanking San Francisco on three hits to hand the Cardinals a 9-0 victory.
Garcia (11-6) was dominant, walking none and striking out six in the 89-pitch masterpiece. The Cardinals rookie bounced back for the victory after dropping two of his previous three starts and notched his first complete game.
Allen Craig hit a two-run homer and collected three RBI and John Jay went 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Cards' 15-hit attack, enabling St. Louis to take the rubber match of a three-game series against the Giants.
The Cards entered the game in second place in the National League Central, 3 1/2 games behind Cincinnati.
Giants starter Barry Zito (8-8) lasted only 3 2/3 innings, yielding five runs on seven hits.
San Francisco trailed Philadelphia by one game in the NL Wild Card standings entering Sunday.
