Garcia sharp as Cards extend Angels’ slide

ANAHEIM — A four-run second inning off starter Matt Shoemaker was all the Cardinals would need Wednesday night as they cruised to a 5-2 win and clinched a series victory over the Angels.

Cardinals left-hander Jaime Garcia (3-2, 2.58 ERA) continued his hot streak, holding the Angels to two unearned runs and scattering four hits while striking out eight in seven innings.

Shoemaker, who was making his first start back in the Major Leagues since being recalled from Triple-A earlier Wednesday, allowed the first five batters to reach in the second inning, allowing runs to score on two RBI singles and two sacrifice flies. St. Louis added an insurance run in the seventh inning on Stephen Piscotty’s RBI single to right field.

The Cardinals sit at 18-16 and remain a half-game behind the Pirates for second place in the National League Central. The Angels have lost five in a row on this six-game homestand, dropping their record to 13-20 with a run differential of minus-27.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Streak snapped: The Angels were held hitless by Garcia for 3 2/3 innings, and might have been for quite a while longer had Matt Carpenter cleanly picked an Albert Pujols chopper in the fourth. Instead, Pujols reached on an error, and C.J. Cron, on Garcia’s next pitch, snapped the left-hander’s scoreless streak at 16 innings with his second home run of the season.

Short-lived return: Shoemaker struggled in his return, lasting just four-plus innings and giving up four earned runs to …

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