Recap: St. Louis vs. Cincinnati

St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - Jaime Garcia pitched eight strong innings as Matt Holliday's two-run home run lifted the St. Louis Cardinals to a 2-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Busch Stadium.

Garcia (3-1) scattered just seven hits and a run for St. Louis, which snapped a three-game losing skid and knotted the three-game set with Cincinnati. Carlos Beltran went 3-for-4.

Bronson Arroyo (2-3) was solid as well despite the loss. Although he went without a strikeout for the first time since May 28, 2011, Arroyo needed just 78 pitches to get through seven innings. He allowed Holliday's homer.

"I can't complain about it," Arroyo said of his outing. "I pitched a great ballgame, but Garcia pitched a little bit better."

The Reds threatened in the second inning as Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce slapped back-to-back singles with no outs. However Todd Frazier grounded into a fielder's choice and Devin Mesoraco rolled into a double-play.

After four scoreless frames, Cincinnati finally broke through with a run in the top of the fifth. Following a Mesoraco single, Derrick Robinson reached on a fielder's choice. Arroyo laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Robinson to second, where he scored on Shin-Soo Choo's RBI-double. Zack Cozart grounded out, leaving Choo stranded on second.

With one away in the bottom of the sixth, Beltran singled to right, bringing up Holliday, who was 0-2 with two groundouts to that point. Holliday battled to a full count before lining an Arroyo off-speed pitch into the seats in left-center field.

"He's just so strong, the ball was on a line," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Holliday's homer. "It was a nice short stroke, wasn't trying to do too much. It was good to see that timely hit."

Edward Mujica struck out the side in the ninth for his fifth save in as many tries.