Redbird Roundup: Cardinals fall to Mets in series finale

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In the series finale against the New York Mets on Thursday, Jaime Garcia made his return to a big league mound and was effective, despite the St. Louis Cardinals’ loss. The outing marked an important first step for the left-hander, who has battled injuries after starting his career on an optimistic note.

Garcia (0-1. 2.57) allowed two runs on five hits across seven innings of work in the 5-0 loss, giving fans reason for optimism for a pitching staff that has struggled at times this year.

With the loss, the Chicago Cubs gained a full game in the standings after topping the San Diego Padres on the road, picking up the series win and cutting the Cardinals’ lead to three games in the NL Central.

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The San Francisco Giants completed the sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday afternoon, with Madison Bumgarner taking lefty Clayton Kershaw deep – becoming the first pitcher to do so – as the Giants topped LA, 4-0. The win pulls San Francisco within just 1 1/2 games of first-place in the NL West.

Yankees’ ace Masahiro Tanaka made his first rehab start, tossing three scoreless innings for Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. The biggest storyline of the night, however, was during the Milwaukee Brewers-Atlanta Braves game, when Milwaukee reliever Will Smith was ejected for the use of a foreign substance that looked like pine tar.

Here are more storylines from around the league:

“Cardinals fall to Mets in series finale” – Redbird Rants

“Dodgers fall to Giants; do not score in series” – Lasorda’s Lair

“Brewers’ Smith ejected in loss to Braves” – MLB.com

“Cubs owner buys three more rooftop buildings” – Cubbies Crib

“Cardinals, Royals set to do battle this weekend” – Redbird Rants

Next: What to expect from the Cardinals' lefty Garcia