MILWAUKEE — Chris Carpenter kept throwing strike after strike. Mostly unhittable ones.

Carpenter pitched a one-hitter, allowing only a clean double to Jody Gerut in the fifth inning, and struck out 10 as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-0, yesterday.

"Unless it's a certain situation late in the ballgame, or you have a chance to lose the game, or change the game, I'm going to come after you," Carpenter said. "I'm not wasting pitches."

Carpenter (16-3) won his 11th straight decision and leads the majors with a 2.16 ERA. He walked two.

Carpenter needed 99 pitches to throw his first shutout in three years, and allowed just two balls out of the infield.

Carpenter matched the best game of his career, having pitched a one-hitter in 2005 for St. Louis against Toronto.

"We didn't present a threat, for the most part," Milwaukee manager Ken Macha said.

Albert Pujols hit a two-run double in the fifth, then doubled again and scored in the seventh for the NL Central leaders.

Carpenter pitched his first shutout since beating Houston on Sept. 11, 2006.

CUBS 4, PIRATES 2:

Pittsburgh was assured of a record-breaking 17th straight losing season, falling to Chicago on Derrek Lee's two homers. By losing their 10th in 11 games, the Pirates dropped to 54-82 and will finish below .500, just as they have every season since 1993. The string of losing seasons is the longest for any team in the four major North American pro team sports.

GIANTS 9, PADRES 4:

Brad Penny dazzled in his home debut and Juan Uribe homered twice, tripled and drove in five runs for host San Francisco. Penny (2-0) didn't give up a hit until Will Venable's triple leading off the fifth inning. He struck out six and walked one in seven innings. Penny signed with the Giants on Aug. 31 following his release by Boston.

DODGERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 2:

Manny Ramirez hit his 17th home run of the season before being ejected as visiting Los Angeles beat Arizona. Ramirez hit a solo homer in the second inning off Max Scherzer (9-9) but was tossed after flinging his bat and helmet to the ground near home plate after striking out to end the third.

ROCKIES 4, REDS 3:

Ian Stewart broke a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning as host Colorado ended Cincinnati's seven-game winning streak. Rafael Betancourt (2-1) earned the win with a perfect eighth, while Franklin Morales pitched out of a jam to pick up his fourth save in five chances.

ASTROS 4, PHILLIES 3:

Hunter Pence homered and drove in three runs as host Houston completed a four-game sweep of NL East-leading Philadelphia. Pence hit a two-run homer and an RBI double for the Astros, who have won eight of their last nine home games.