"When Zack Greinke pitches, the Brewers win.

At least that has been the case since he lost in Atlanta in his Brewers debut on May 4. Since then he is 6-1 and the team has won seven times in his starts.

On Saturday Greinke outdueled St. Louis right-hander Chris Carpenter in a battle of former Cy Young Award winners as the Brewers beat the Cardinals, 5-3, before a sellout crowd of 41,930 at Miller Park. Milwaukee moved within one-half game of St. Louis for first place in the NL Central Division.

Greinke allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings, walking nobody and striking out nine. He left the last two innings to relievers Kameron Loe and John Axford, and they retired six Cardinals in a row (three apiece) to sew up the victory.

"Oh, he competes," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said of Greinke. "It's pretty fun to watch.

"The comments he makes are telling you he knows exactly what's going on. Even the hitting part. I'm asking a pitcher about, 'How did you hit that pitch?'

"'Well, the ball didn't cut as much.' He knows what's going on in all situations. He has a really good visual of the whole game.""