Brewers need a break from Holiday

New York: Matt Holiday belted a two-run homer among his three hits and Carlos Beltran added a solo shot to power visiting St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-1 thrashing of Milwaukee Brewers — their fourth consecutive victory.

Shelby Miller (4-2) went six strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits, to beat Milwaukee for the second time in three weeks and send the Brewers to their third straight defeat.

Jon Jay had two hits and a two-run double and Allen Craig added three hits for the Cardinals.

Kyle Lohse (1-3) was knocked around for four runs and 11 hits — both season highs — in five innings and lost to Miller and St. Louis for the second time this year.

Elsewhere, Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and A.J. Burnett struck out nine over seven frames as Pittsburgh Pirates downed visiting Washington Nationals 3-1.

Jordy Mercer, who was called up from the minors earlier on Friday, delivered the go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth, giving Burnett the margin he needed.

Burnett (3-2) improved to 8-3 all-time against the Nationals, while Jason Grilli struck out the side in the ninth for his 12th save in as many chances.

Danny Espinosa’s RBI single in the fifth accounted for the Nationals’ only run, continuing Washington’s recent offensive struggles, particularly with Ross Detwiler (1-3) on the mound.

The Nationals have scored three runs or fewer in six straight games and managed a total of three runs over Detwiler’s last three outings.