Dexter Fowler matched his career high with four hits, drove in four runs and scored three to help the St. Louis Cardinals to a 13-5 win against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of the three-game series on Monday.

Paul Goldschmidt had three hits and three RBIs, and Jose Martinez, Paul DeJong and Matt Carpenter contributed two hits each for St. Louis, which blew the game open with seven runs in the seventh inning.

Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty (2-1) made his third start of the season against Milwaukee and delivered his longest outing, going six innings and giving up four runs and three hits, all homers. He struck out a season-high 10 and walked one.

Flaherty retired the first 13 batters in order before Ryan Braun hit an opposite-field homer in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-1. Hernan Perez followed with a two-run homer two batters later to tie the score at 3-3.

The Cardinals put their leadoff batter on base in four of five innings against Brewers right-hander Adrian Houser (0-1), who was making his first major league start.

Carpenter singled to right to open the fifth and Goldschmidt followed with a two-run homer to give the Cardinals a 5-3 lead.

Houser was done after that, going four innings and allowing five runs on nine hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

The Brewers got a run back in the sixth on a solo home run by Yasmani Grandal to make it 5-4, but the Cardinals put the game away in the seventh.

After a bases-loaded walk and sacrifice fly for the first out of the seventh, Yadier Molina, Fowler, Lane Thomas and Goldschmidt drove in the next five runs with singles to make it 12-4.

Fowler drove in his fourth run with an infield single in the eighth for a 13-4 lead.

Travis Shaw homered in the ninth for the Brewers to make it 13-5.

Martinez started the second and fourth innings with singles.

Kolten Wong's RBI single in the second gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead, and Martinez was on base when Fowler homered with one out in the fourth to make it 3-0.

--Field Level Media