Chris Carpenter was outstanding through eight innings and rookie Allen Craig drove in his first two career runs for the St. Louis Cardinals in a 7-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.

Matt Holliday, Felipe Lopez, Yadier Molina, Aaron Miles and Jon Jay each had an RBI as St. Louis won for the first time in four tries this season against the Dodgers.

The win moved the Cardinals to within a half-game of first place in the National League Central behind the idle Cincinnati Reds.

Carpenter (10-3) scattered four hits and allowed just a run while striking out six against no walks. His lone blemish was a fourth-inning home run to Andre Ethier, his who had two of the Dodgers’ hits.

The Cardinals scored a pair of runs in the first on fielder's choice groundouts by Holliday and Craig. They added two more in the fourth, one in the fifth and two more in the seventh.

The damage came at the expense of Clayton Kershaw (9-5), who surrendered four runs - five earned - and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings to take his first loss in the past four starts.