Major League Baseball
Atlanta 6, St. Louis 0
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, October 4, 2015
Where: Turner Field, Atlanta, Georgia
Temperature: 67°
Umpires: Home - Alan Porter, 1B - A.J. Johnson, 2B - Brian O'Nora, 3B - Mark Ripperger
Attendance:

ATLANTA -- Atlanta Braves right-hander Shelby Miller ended his four-month winless drought on Sunday by throwing eight shutout innings in a 6-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of a doubleheader at Turner Field.

Miller ended a franchise-record 24 consecutive winless starts and broke a 13-game losing streak. He won for the first time since May 17, when he threw a two-hit shutout at Miami.

Miller (6-17) allowed only three hits, struck out seven and walked three. He threw 110 pitches.

Atlanta relief pitcher Matt Marksberry got one out in the ninth and Arodys Vizcaino got the next two outs to close out the game.

The Braves, who had failed to score for Miller in 14 of his previous 32 starts, produced three home runs in his behalf, giving the club 100 for the season. Third baseman Adonis Garcia hit two homers, his ninth and 10th of the season, and shortstop Andrelton Simmons added a two-run homer, his fourth.

St. Louis starter John Lackey (13-10) pitched only four innings, as he prepared to make the start for the opening game of the NL Division Series on Friday. Lackey allowed three runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

The Braves scored a pair of runs in the first inning. Left fielder Michael Bourn led off with a double and scored on a bloop single by right fielder Nick Markakis. Markakis went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out single by center fielder Cameron Maybin.

Atlanta scored again in the fourth inning when Garcia hit a solo shot to left field.

Garcia hit his second homer of the game in the sixth, this one coming against reliever Tyler Lyons.

Simmons hit a two-run homer off Lyons in the seventh.

The Braves also turned in some strong defensive plays in support of Miller, the biggest coming in the fourth inning. Right fielder Jason Heyward singled and shortstop Jhonny Peralta walked with one out. First baseman Brandon Moss scorched a long fly ball that Maybin was able to catch and relay to second baseman Daniel Castro, who fired to first baseman Pedro Ciriaco in time to double-up pinch-runner Greg Garcia.

Notes: St. Louis outfielder Stephen Piscotty was cleared by Major League Baseball to return. Piscotty was injured in an outfield collision on Sept. 28 and sidelined with a head contusion. Piscotty started in right field, with Jason Heyward moving over to make his eighth start in center field. ... Atlanta started Pedro Ciriaco at first base for the first time this season. Ciriaco has now started all infield positions. ... Ryan Lavarnway caught the first game for Atlanta. It was his first start since Sept. 26.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
St. Louis   Atlanta
John Lackey Player Shelby Miller
Loss W/L Win
4.0 IP 8.0
4 Strikeouts 7
5 Hits 3
6.75 ERA 0.00
Hitting
St. Louis   Atlanta
Matt Carpenter Player Andrelton Simmons
1 Hits 2
0 RBI 2
0 HR 1
1 TB 5
.500 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
St. Louis 3 0 3 .100 18 8 0 4 0 0
Atlanta 8 3 18 .258 6 11 6 1 0 2