ST. LOUIS -- For eight innings Saturday, Randy Choate watched from his seat in the St. Louis Cardinals' bullpen as teammate Carlos Martinez and Atlanta Braves right-hander Shelby Miller took turns carving up the opponents' lineup in efficient fashion.

"That was something to watch," Choate said. "You've got Shelby, who's throwing 95 to 97 miles per hour and it looks like a low riseball. And Carlos is throwing 97 with heavy sink."

But when it came time for the game's final pitch, it was an 85 mph sinker out of Choate's left hand, resulting in the double play that clinched St. Louis' 1-0 win at sold-out Busch Stadium.

With closer Trevor Rosenthal and backup closer Kevin Siegrist unavailable due to recent workload, Choate got the call when three straight left-handers were due for Atlanta after center fielder Cameron Maybin lined out off Seth Maness to open the ninth inning.

After a single by right fielder Nick Markakis, Choate induced a 6-4-3 twin-killing from catcher A.J. Pierzynski -- the fourth double play the Cardinals turned, tying a season high -- for his first save since May 26, 2012.

"I tried not to make it more than what it was," the 39-year-old Choate said. "I knew, with three lefties coming up, my number might get called. It feels different while you're warming up; but, by the time you get in there, it's just a normal (game) situation."

Choate's rare save preserved the win for Martinez (11-4), who scattered six singles over eight innings, issuing one intentional walk and fanning six. It was Martinez's 11th straight quality start, tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw for the longest streak in the majors.

Miller (5-7) suffered another hard-luck loss despite giving up just two hits and two walks over 7 1/3 dominant innings. He struck out four.

After yielding a bloop double to second baseman Kolten Wong in the first inning, Miller didn't allow another man into scoring position until the eighth.

Catcher Yadier Molina singled to lead off the inning and moved to second as center fielder Randal Grichuk drew a walk. At that point, manager Mike Matheny lifted Molina for pinch runner Pete Kozma.

A flyout to Maybin was deep enough to move Kozma to third. Following a flurry of moves by the managers -- Matheny pulled Martinez for pinch hitter Dan Johnson, Braves skipper Fredi Gonzalez lifted Miller for lefty Luis Avilan and Matheny countered with righty swinger Stephen Piscotty for Johnson -- it came down to Kozma's legs against Markakis' arm.

On a fly ball of medium depth, Kozma took off and Markakis unleashed a strong, accurate throw to Pierzynski. But Kozma's good jump got him home just ahead of Pierzynski's tag, giving Piscotty his first big-league RBI and a game-winner.

"Pure excitement," Piscotty said when asked his reaction to Kozma scoring. "It gave me chills for a moment."

Meanwhile, it gave Miller and Gonzalez another helping of the same old song. It marked the ninth time Atlanta hadn't scored with the former Cardinal on the mound, tying a major-league high, and also represented his 12th straight winless outing.

"I'm not concerned about that at all," Miller said of the winless streak. "I felt great out there tonight and had all my pitches working. We just came up a bit short."

"Shelby outpitched Carlos tonight," Gonzalez said. "They had one run on two hits. But Carlos made the pitches when he had to. We hit into four double plays, and that hurt."

While the Braves (45-52) absorbed their third straight loss, St. Louis (63-34) picked up its fifth straight win and improved to 36-12 at home while pushing its National League Central lead over Pittsburgh to seven games.

NOTES: Atlanta activated 1B Freddie Freeman (wrist) from the 15-day disabled list, although he didn't start. Freeman arrived at the ballpark in the second inning and entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning, flying out. ... St. Louis LHP Tim Cooney, who earned his first major-league win Friday night, was sent to Triple-A Memphis to make room for newly acquired RHP Steve Cishek on the 25-man roster. ... The Braves recalled OF Adonis Garcia and INF Daniel Castro from Triple-A Gwinnett and optioned 1B Joey Terdoslavich to Gwinnett.