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April 12 (UPI) -- Starting pitcher Brett Anderson allowed five hits and one run and was backed by three Milwaukee Brewers home runs for a 9-3 win and series victory Sunday over the St. Louis Cardinals. Avisail Garcia, Travis Shaw and Manny Pina each went deep in the triumph at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The Brewers won the final two games of the three-game series.
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"All year, the pitching's been incredible," Shaw told reporters. "Offensively, we started off a little bit slow, and I think we could have a better record than we do, just because of how poorly we swung the bats early in the season.
"But if the pitching keeps pitching like that, we're going to be in a really good spot come the end of the season."
Daniel Vogelbach sparked a four-run first inning for the Brewers. The Brewers first baseman plated Lorenzo Cain with an RBI single in the second at-bat of the game. Christian Yelich flew out in the next at-bat, but Garcia followed with a 426-foot, two-run homer to left field for a 3-0 lead.
Cardinals starter Daniel Ponce de Leon then allowed a Pina double and walked Luis Urias to load the bases. He also walked Anderson in the next at-bat, to bring home Shaw from third base.
Shaw returned to the plate in the top of the second inning and delivered a three-run homer for a 7-0 Brewers lead. That blast off Ponce de Leon traveled 449-feet and sailed over the right field fence.
Pitcher Johan Oviedo grounded out in the bottom of the second inning to bring in Dylan Carlson for the Cardinals' first run.
Neither team scored for the next three innings. Cardinals outfielder Austin Dean then brought in Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Pina plated the final runs of the game with a two-run homer in the top of the ninth frame. That blast off Cardinals relief pitcher Genesis Cabrera went to left field and traveled 405-feet.
Anderson had one strikeout and issued two walks en route to his first win of the season. Ponce de Leon allowed six hits and seven runs in 1 1/3 innings to move to 1-1 this season.
Pina went 3 for 4 with two RBIs, a run scored, a walk and a strikeout. Shaw went 1 for 2 with three RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. Garcia went 1 for 5 with two RBIs, two runs scored and two strikeouts in the win.
Dean led the Cardinals with two hits and four at-bats, in addition to his two RBIs.
The Brewers (5-4) next host the Chicago Cubs at 7:40 p.m. EDT Monday at American Family Field in Milwaukee and the Cardinals (5-4) host the Washington Nationals at 7:45 p.m.
