ST. LOUIS -- Matt Holliday faces the daunting task of getting his swing back into form in time for what the St. Louis Cardinals hope is a long postseason run.

If Saturday night is any indication, the left fielder is just about ready to roll.

Lacing RBI doubles in the first two innings, Holliday helped St. Louis maintain its three-game lead over Pittsburgh in the National League Central with a 5-1 decision over the Milwaukee Brewers at sold-out Busch Stadium.

His first-inning liner one-hopped the wall in left-center field, scoring right fielder Stephen Piscotty to initiate a four-run outburst. After Piscotty doubled with two outs in the second, Holliday sharply pulled a two-bagger into the left field corner.

It was the 1,900th career hit for Holliday, who has missed 86 games this year largely because of a right quad injury that has sent him to the disabled list twice.

"He could not get another hit the rest of the season and still have a big impact on our lineup," Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter said. "It changes how teams have to pitch to us. Teams have to game-plan for him."

St. Louis second baseman Kolten Wong said, "When you have your three-hole hitter back, it makes you more upbeat. You have guys filling the role, but it's hard to replace a Matt Holliday."

Wong made his own contribution to the first inning, slashing a two-run single to cap the rally against rookie Tyler Wagner (0-1), who was making his second big league start.

Wagner needed 37 pitches to get through the first, hampered by a lack of fastball accuracy. He walked two and fell behind in the count 2-0 to three straight hitters, including Wong. In his four innings, Wagner threw just 39 of 73 pitches for strikes.

"When you're a young man facing that kind of lineup, it's hard," Milwaukee catcher Martin Maldonado said.

While Wagner gave up six hits, four walks and five runs in his short stint, St. Louis pitcher Jaime Garcia (10-5) cruised to another win with the kind of efficient outing that has marked his shortened but successful season.

Requiring just 99 pitches to sail through eight innings, Garcia scattered seven hits and allowed a run with no walks and eight strikeouts. The only hint of trouble occurred in the sixth, when rookie outfielder Michael Reed doubled in his first big league at-bat and scored on a single by first baseman Jonathan Lucroy.

"Jaime had good life on the fastball," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "You could tell by all the groundballs. About the third inning, he really started to settle in and found a good rhythm with the changeup."

Steve Cishek mopped up in the ninth as St. Louis (98-57) won its 55th home game, its most since 1943 (58), and cut its magic number for winning its third straight division title to five. The Cardinals still have a big obstacle to climb -- a three-game series in Pittsburgh that starts Monday night.

A healthy Holliday, while perhaps not the home run threat he has been for most of his career, still offers a combination of pop, plate discipline and run-producing capability the St. Louis lineup has missed most of the year.

In the 10 games against the Pirates that Holliday missed because of injury, the Cardinals went 4-6, averaging just 3.4 runs per game.

"It was nice to see," Matheny said of Holliday's performance. "Just a real nice stroke. Even the last out was hit hard. He ran from home to second twice and then second to home, so tonight was a real good test for him."

Lucroy and Maldonado combined for five hits for the Brewers (65-90).

NOTES: St. Louis RHP Carlos Martinez (right shoulder tightness) is being shut down for the year, but won't need surgery. Martinez, who finished 14-7 with a 3.01 ERA in his first year as a starter, left Friday night's game after seven pitches. ... Milwaukee RF Ryan Braun (lower back tightness) returned to the starting lineup for the first time since Sept. 18, going 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. ... Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (left Achilles) threw 27 pitches in a simulated game, recording strikeouts of 1B Matt Adams and OF Randal Grichuk. Wainwright, who also worked on fielding and covering first base, could pitch next week during a trip to Pittsburgh and Atlanta.