Cron’s blast not enough to end Angels’ slide

ANAHEIM — Jaime Garcia’s stellar performance and a four-run second inning was all the Cardinals would need Wednesday night, as they cruised to a 5-2 win and a series victory over the Angels in Southern California.

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.

“When he’s healthy, it looks like what we just saw,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Garcia, who was making his first career start against the Angels. “He’s been pretty impressive all year. We talk about the starter giving us a chance, and that’s certainly something that he’s doing.”

Angels right-hander Matt Shoemaker, who was 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 didn’t hit Shoemaker particularly hard but managed to find holes and get on base to make him pay.

“It’s frustrating after that second, third run score, especially after some ground-ball hits,” Shoemaker said. “That’s going to happen in this game, but it’s just even more frustrating in that situation. Two feet, three feet, four feet and that’s a double-play ball. That’s sometimes the name of the game.”

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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 and falling seven games below .500 for the first time since Sept. 13, 2013.

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.

“That was a mistake,” Garcia said of the four-seam fastball to Cron. “He’s a good hitter. It was over the middle of the plate, and he put a good swing on it. It was one of those where you second-guess yourself. You learn from it.”

Short-lived return: Shoemaker …

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