Cardinals hold on to sweep Arizona

PHOENIX -- Pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter lined a go-ahead double in the sixth inning, Allen Craig homered to cap a four-run burst in the ninth and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-2 on Thursday night for a three-game sweep.

David Freese had three hits to help St. Louis win its fourth in a row.

Kyle Lohse (5-1) allowed one run and seven hits over five innings.

The Diamondbacks started the ninth with three straight singles to load the bases against Mitchell Boggs. Jason Motte came on to retire the side on a strikeout and a double play for his sixth save.

Arizona has lost five straight at home and seven of eight overall.

Wade Miley (3-1) pitched 5 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs on 10 hits with two walks. He lost for the first time since Sept. 16 at San Diego, a span of five starts and eight appearances.

Carpenter's at-bat came with the score tied at 1-1 after Tony Cruz's two-out single. Arizona's bullpen phone rang and pitching coach Charles Nagy sprinted to the mound as Carpenter was announced as the pinch hitter.

Carpenter doubled home Freese, who had drawn a leadoff walk, and Cruz. Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson quickly pulled the left-handed Miley in favor of right-hander Bryan Shaw, who retired Rafael Furcal to end the inning.

Arizona got within a run in the sixth when Miguel Montero singled and scored on a double by Aaron Hill.

The Cardinals extended their lead with a two-out surge in the ninth against J.J. Putz. Furcal and Carlos Beltran singled, Matt Holliday hit an RBI double off the center-field wall then Craig hit his third home run of the season.

Putz, who was making his first appearance in five days, allowed four runs on five hits and only recorded two outs before being pulled for Craig Breslow.

Three consecutive singles, the last on a looping hit to center by Miley, gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead in the second.

The Cardinals tied the game in the fifth when Lohse singled, went to third on a single by Furcal and scored when Beltran's hard grounder to third deflected of Ryan Roberts' glove and bounced off his chin for an error. Beltran was credited with an RBI.