ST. LOUIS (AP) — Chris Carpenter pitched a four-hitter to record his first shutout in two years and Rafael Furcal hit a solo home run as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 on Wednesday night.
After losing the series opener on Monday, the Cardinals won the last two to move within 812 games of the first-place Brewers in the NL Central with 19 games to play. The Cardinals are 612 games behind Atlanta in the wild card race with the Braves coming to St. Louis on Friday to start a three-game series.
The benches and bullpens emptied in the top of the ninth after Carpenter (9-9) struck out Nyjer Morgan. The two had words and Morgan headed toward the mound before being restrained by teammate Prince Fielder. No punches were thrown and Morgan was ejected.
