MILWAUKEE -- The St. Louis Cardinals' pitching staff keeps throwing up zeroes.

It was Jaime Garcia's turn to shut down an opposing offense on Saturday night when the Cardinals won their fourth straight game in an all-too-familiar way.

Garcia and two relievers combined on a two-hit shutout and received just enough offense to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 at Miller Park.

St. Louis pitchers extended their scoreless streak to 36 innings, which is six innings shy of the season record set in 1943. The streak began with the fifth inning of a 4-3, 13-inning victory over Cincinnati on Wednesday.

Garcia has a 2.12 ERA in three starts since being activated from the disabled list on July 28 after missing more than a month with a left groin strain.

"He didn't have a clean inning until the fifth, but whenever he did get someone on, he had so much movement," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "He didn't have much of a stress inning. When you see a guy with stuff that's different, it stands out. His stuff is. He hit 92 (mph) today, had pretty good life, but it's deception and movement."

Two double plays helped Garcia through the early innings. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy erased a leadoff single by shortstop Jean Segura in the first inning with a twin killing, and Brewers center fielder Shane Peterson hit into an inning-ending double play in the second.

Garcia walked two Brewers in the fourth but worked out of trouble by retiring Peterson on a ground ball to second.

"I was able to keep the ball down tonight and get some grounders when I needed them," Garcia said. "The defense did an unbelievable job behind me and we won the game."

Like Garcia, Brewers right-hander Wily Peralta was making his third start since returning from the disabled list. After holding San Francisco to two runs in six innings on July 28, Peralta was roughed up for six runs in 3 1/3 innings against San Diego on Aug. 3.

Peralta put forth a strong effort in a loss, limiting the Cardinals to three runs and five hits in seven innings.

After allowing a two-out RBI single in the second inning, Peralta settled down and retired 14 straight Cardinals until center fielder Randal Grichuk singled with one out in the seventh.

"I threw better than the last time," Peralta said. "After the second inning, I started feeling better with my breathing and commanding my off-speed pitches. I had a pretty good feel with the change-up after that."

The Brewers were able to muster just two hits off Garcia and relievers Kevin Siegrist and Trevor Rosenthal.

Garcia walked four batters but didn't allow a hit after third baseman Elian Herrera led off the bottom of the third with a single. Siegrist issued a one-out walk to first baseman Jason Rogers in the eighth but worked out of the inning by retiring Peterson and Herrera.

Rosenthal struck out the side in the ninth to post his 33rd save of the season.

"They've got the best staff in baseball," Lucroy said of the Cardinals. "You have to go out there and fight, scratch for every base runner we got. They're not making a lot of mistakes, and when they are, we're not taking advantage of them."

Cardinals rookie left fielder Stephen Piscotty went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

Third baseman Matt Carpenter provided early offense for St. Louis by hitting a leadoff home run into the Brewers' bullpen in left-center field. It was Carpenter's fourth leadoff home run of the season and the eighth of his career.

St. Louis tacked on a run against Peralta in the second when first baseman Mark Reynolds doubled with two outs and scored on Piscotty's single.

Piscotty gave the Cardinals an insurance run with a two-out RBI single in the seventh.

"I'm just up there trying to do my job every time, whatever the situation calls for," Piscotty said. "I was able to come through a couple of times tonight."

With the shutout, the Cardinals lowered their team ERA to a major league-best 2.58. All five current St. Louis starters have sub-3.00 ERAs.

"There's no doubt we have a lot of talent," Garcia said of the starting rotation. "We have a good group. We are pulling for each other.

"I'm doing everything in my control to go out there and give us a chance to win by taking the ball every five days. We take a lot of pride in that and are pulling for each other each time each of us goes out there."

NOTES: INF Hector Gomez, sent to Triple-A Colorado Springs by the Brewers on Friday, refused the assignment and elected to become a free agent. ... Cardinals RHP Carlos Villanueva posted his second three-inning save of the year Friday. He's the first Cardinals pitcher with more than one three-inning save in a season since Scott Terry had three in 1988. ... OF Shane Peterson hit .423 (11-for-26) in his first eight games as Milwaukee's center fielder since Carlos Gomez was traded to Houston on July 30. ... St. Louis was holding opponents to a major-league-low .194 batting average with runners in scoring position. That's the lowest mark in baseball since 1974. ... Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash said minor-league RHP Taylor Williams will undergo Tommy John surgery in Milwaukee on Tuesday.