Garcia delivers for Cards staff in need of a lift

ST. LOUIS — Minutes before Jaime Garcia would throw his first pitch, catcher Yadier Molina walked in from the bullpen, sensing something special was ahead.

The command in the bottom of the strike zone and pitch movement that had impressed Molina during warmups remained through Garcia’s final pitch on Friday against the Braves, who had little to offer offensively against a lefty whose sinker, changeup and slider worked with ease. It was the sort of dominance not seen from Garcia since his one-hit shutout of the Brewers back in April, and every bit of it was needed for the Cardinals to cling to a 1-0 victory at Busch Stadium.

In addition to doing his job masterfully from the mound, Garcia drove in the game’s only run.

“It was everything you could ask for,” manager Mike Matheny said afterward.

After a five-start stretch in which Garcia finished six innings once, he breezed through eight to improve to 8-8. A double play wiped out a leadoff single in the first, and Garcia went on to keep the Braves hitless in five chances with a runner in scoring position. His fourth-inning escape act was particularly …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com