Garcia unable to solve Rox as Cards drop opener

ST. LOUIS — Buoyed by Chad Bettis’ fifth quality start of the season, the Rockies ran their winning streak to five by opening a three-game series at Busch Stadium with a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals on Tuesday.

Bettis outpitched Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia, who remains winless in six career starts against Colorado. Garcia was peppered for five singles and hurt by four walks as the Rockies built an early three-run lead. A two-out single by Nolan Arenado plated a third-inning run. Garcia, stung by a leadoff walk, allowed another two runs in the fourth before bowing out an inning later. It was his third five-inning start of the season.

The Rockies, now 12-8 on the road this season, used a 6 2/3-inning start from Bettis to set up the win. The right-hander held the Cardinals hitless until the fifth, and scoreless until Randal Grichuk’s pinch-hit single drove home a run in the seventh.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDShort or long, the work is the same: Sometimes, lefty reliever Boone Logan works a full inning. Monday, it was just one batter. But Logan entered with two out and two on, and forced Matt Carpenter into a grounder — DJ LeMahieu sprawled to grab it, then threw Carpenter out from his knees — to preserve a 3-1 lead and keep Bettis in position to win. Logan has made 14 straight scoreless appearances and limited hitters to a .184 batting average (9-for-49).

Just short: Seeing that his club might have few scoring …

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