Samardzija gave up three runs on eight hits in six innings. "I

PITTSBURGH -- Yovani Gallardo was pitching so well he just needed one run to get a win. His catcher got him all the support he needed, with some help from an eager fan. Gallardo pitched seven crisp innings, Jonathan Lucroy doubled and scored on Aramis Ramirezs groundout, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 on Sunday. "Yo was outstanding," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "Just hung in there and made some great pitches, got better as the game went on." Gallardo (4-4) had a season-high eight strikeouts in his second win in his last three starts. He allowed four hits and walked one. The Pirates had at least one baserunner in five of Gallardos seven innings, but the right-hander got sharper as the game progressed. "I was able to get out of some big situations and make pitches," Gallardo said. "Thats always something positive to go from." Jeff Locke also pitched seven solid innings in a spot start for the Pirates. Locke was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to start in place of Charlie Morton, who was pushed back a day to Monday. Pittsburgh also put right-hander Gerrit Cole on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder fatigue. Locke (0-1) struck out five and walked one in his second start of the season. The left-hander, who made the All-Star team last season, allowed six runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings against San Francisco on May 5. "He gave us everything we could have asked for him to give us today," manager Clint Hurdle said. "And more." Locke said he benefited from being "on the same page" with catcher Russell Martin. "We just knew I was going to pitch my game," he said. "He just put down the right fingers and moved the ball around a little bit." Lucroy sparked the only scoring sequence of the game when he led off the seventh with a liner down the left-field line that was grabbed by a fan while it was in play. Lucroy was awarded a ground-rule double on the interference. Lucroy went to second on Carlos Gomezs lineout to centre and scored on Ramirezs bouncer to first. The Pirates then loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half. But Gallardo struck out pinch-hitter Jose Tabata and Josh Harrison popped out to second to end the inning. Pittsburgh left 10 runners on base in its 10th loss in 13 games this season against NL Central-leading Milwaukee. Martin and Hurdle also were ejected in the eighth. With two out and Andrew McCutchen on third, Martin looked a called third strike on a curveball from Francisco Rodriguez on the lower-inside edge of the plate. Martin spiked his bat and helmet in the batters box. Hurdle then confronted umpire Ed Hickox about the call and was thrown out. Roenicke said he thought the pitch looked questionable based on the way his catcher reacted to it. "(Lucroy) made that pitch look a little not-as-good-as it probably was," Roenicke said. "Just because he was maybe in between trying to block or decide where the ball was going to end up." Lucroy said he did not think the pitch was a strike. The Pirates then put runners on first and second in the ninth, but Rodriguez got Travis Snider to hit into a fielders choice that advanced Starling Marte to third and retired Harrison for his 19th save. "I ended up making the right pitches to get out of (the jam)," Rodriguez said. "So its definitely a nice win." NOTES: Lucroy had three hits and improved his batting average to .335, third-best in the National League. ... Morton (2-7, 3.31 ERA) got an extra day of rest and will pitch against Chicago on Monday. ... Milwaukee RHP Marco Estrada (5-2, 4.19 ERA) starts when the Brewers begin a three-game series with the Mets on Tuesday. Authentic Eddie George Jersey . Her return engagement begins tonight as TSN presents Day 1 coverage of the 2015 event from Melbourne. Watch Eugenie Bouchards opening round match at the Australian Open live tonight on TSN5 at 3am et/Midnight pt. Authentic Blaine Gabbert Jersey . Mike Ribeiro had a goal and an assist as Phoenix held on to snap a two-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday. http://www.cheaptitansjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-taywan-taylor-jersey . -- Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer will be out three to six weeks with a stress fracture of the third finger of his right hand. Authentic Dion Lewis Jersey .C. -- Theyll remember the OT from the first Syracuse-Duke game -- and the Ts that decided Round 2. Authentic Bennie Logan Jersey . And on Sunday against the Houston Astros they were pleased to see his work finally pay off with his first win since May 24. ST. LOUIS -- Matt Carpenter came up empty Sunday in his bid for a 200-hit season. St. Louis second baseman could have cared less. Carpenter and the Cardinals clinched home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs when they beat the Chicago Cubs 4-0 for their sixth straight win. "That last one (hit) was tough to find," Carpenter said after going 0 for 4. "From an individual standpoint 200 hits is a cool thing, but more importantly we won a big game today and have the best record in the National League." With the top seed, the Central League champions will host the wild-card winner in Game 1 of an NL division series on Thursday. Joe Kelly (10-5) pitched 5 1-3 innings of three-hit ball in relief of Jake Westbrook as the Cardinals matched a season high winning streak to finish 97-65, their most since reaching 100 in 2005. St. Louis also won six straight from April 30-May 5. The Cardinals have won eight of nine and 17 of 22. Carpenter finished with a league-leading 199 hits. He struck out in the seventh in his last opportunity. Carpenter said he felt a little pressure in his at-bats Sunday. "Its one of those things, when guys are chasing certain (goals) it can kind of get to them a little," he said. "I dont know if it did or not." The milestone was important to manager Mike Matheny, who said Carpenters failure was the lone damper on the afternoon. "He was pushing hard, "he said. "But what a season." Carpenter also finished first in the NL in runs (126), doubles (55) and multihit games (63). "Now all those stats go out the window, its just about winning games," he said. "But, Im pleased and proud with what Ive done." Jon Jay, Daniel Descalso, Shane Robinson and Tony Cruz drove in runs for St. Louis. The Cubs, who lost 41 of their last 59 games, finish last in the Central at 66-96. Chicago manager Dale Sveum, who is scheduled to meet Monday with Cubs management to discuss his future, says a lack of offence hurt his club the last month. "We didnt score a lot," he said. "When youre facing the Cardinals, Reds, Pirates, Atlanta, its going to be tough." St..dddddddddddd Louis starter Jake Westbrook pitched one inning before Kelly came on in relief. Westbrook is not likely to be on the post-season roster and the Cardinals are not expected to pick up his option for next season. Kelly struck out five in his first relief appearance since re-joining the starting rotation on July 6. "It was a little different, but my mindset was the same the whole time," Kelly said. "I felt like I was commanding my fastball on both sides of the plate. I was just trying to keep a high level of focus and attack these guys." Matheny called it, "one of his best all-around outings." Randy Choate, Carlos Martinez and Kevin Siegrist contributed to the five-man, five-hit shutout. The Cardinals scored twice in the fourth off Chicago starter Jeff Samardzija (8-13) to take a 3-0 lead. Matt Adams and Descalso hit back-to-back doubles to push the advantage to 2-0. Robinson followed with a run-scoring single. Samardzija gave up three runs on eight hits in six innings. "I had a strong year, I felt good," Samardzija said. "I pitched every start, threw a lot of innings and had a lot of strikeouts." Jay, who drove in a run with a single in the third, extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games with a single in the first. St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina took the field to start the game, but was removed before the first pitch. Molina received a standing ovation as he walked to the dugout. Right fielder Carlos Beltran was taken out at the start of the fifth inning and also left to a loud applause. "Today, we were proud to do something that could honour our guys," Matheny said. "The fans like to acknowledge our guys." NOTES: St. Louis recognized the 50th anniversary of Stan Musials last game as a Cardinal with commemorative patches on their uniforms. Musial went 2 for 3 and singled in his final at-bat of a 3-2 win over Cincinnati. ... Matheny indicated that Adam Wainwright (19-9, 2.94) will start the first game of the NL division series. The Cubs closed the season losing 41 of their last 59. ...A crowd of 44,808 gave the Cardinals their 25th sellout of the season. ' ' '