Greinke’s best start leads D-backs over Cards

ST. LOUIS — The D-backs ambushed opposing starter Jaime Garcia to seal a series win on Sunday, jumping out to an early lead that Zack Greinke never allowed the Cardinals to threaten en route to a 7-2 victory at Busch Stadium.

“They were ready,” D-backs manager Chip Hale said of his team. “We really wanted to win this series. Zack has been pitching better and better. He went out there like a No. 1 does and took control of the game. The offense scored a few runs for him early, which I’m sure helped him.”

Garcia faced 16 batters and allowed 10 of them to tally a hit before being pulled after 2 1/3 innings, his shortest start in almost four years. Yasmany Tomas and Brandon Drury had RBI singles off the lefty in the first, while a Paul Goldschmidt RBI single helped add to Arizona’s lead the following inning. Michael Bourn finished the series with five hits after collecting three more, including an RBI single, in the finale.

• Start one to forget for Garcia

“I just couldn’t get the movement that I wanted,” Garcia said. “I think I got off with something mechanically, and that threw me off a little bit. I was trying to find it back, but they didn’t let me. They kept swinging at the first pitch, and they were hitting it on the ground and finding holes [and] hitting it in the air.”

Greinke needed a fraction of that support as he rolled to his fifth win in his last six decisions. After giving up seven runs in a start against the Cardinals last month, Greinke pitched a season-long eight innings while limiting the Cardinals to five hits. Brandon Moss’ fourth-inning home run was the only blemish. With the win, Greinke improved to 11-4 all-time against St. Louis.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDCarryover effect: The D-backs scored a pair of runs in Saturday’s ninth inning and brought the potential tying run to the plate against Trevor Rosenthal before the rally fell short in a 6-2 loss. D-backs manager Chip Hale hoped it would lead to a quick …

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