St. Louis ? Jason Schmidt wanted to simplify his pitching he did, and was simply stunning.

Schmidt took a shutout into the eighth inning Thursday night as the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1, to take a 2-0 lead in the NL championship series.

The right-hander earned his first playoff win in the process in one of the best games in his six years in the majors.

“This is the highlight of my career, no doubt,” Schmidt said. “There’s no way it couldn’t be. We’re on the road to the World Series and up 2-0.”

Schmidt limited the Cardinals to four hits, struck out eight and walked one. Of his 119 pitches, 82 were strikes. He gave way to Scott Eyre after a solo home run by pinch-hitter Eduardo Perez in the eighth.

Schmidt escaped his only real jam in the third inning, created when he was slow to cover first on J.D. Drew’s grounder.

Schmidt matched his previous career low for hits allowed, which he had done twice.

One of his few mistakes was not covering first base on time. And he owes pitching coach Dave Righetti a box of golf balls for it.

San Francisco's Rich Aurilia is greeted by his teammates after he hit a two-run home run off St. Louis pitcher Woody Williams in the fifth inning. The blast, Aurilia's second homer of the game, helped the Giants win Game 2 of the NL championship series, 4-1, Thursday in St. Louis.

“He’s fun to watch for me,” Righetti said. “I’ve never had a power pitcher like that before, so you get pretty excited when guys like that throw the ball.”

Schmidt won 13 games this season despite missing the first three weeks because of an injured groin. He began the year at Triple-A Fresno before making his first start for San Francisco on April 24.

While Thursday’s win certainly will mean a lot to the 29-year-old pitcher, he has learned this year that there’s much more to life than baseball. In March, during spring training, his mother, Vicki, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.

She made it through, but it definitely changed her son’s outlook on what’s most important. He headed home to Kelso, Wash., in late March to spend time with her before the season started.

While she wasn’t in St. Louis on Thursday, she did watch him last week at San Francisco’s Pacific Bell Park in his first postseason appearance.

That one ended in disappointment for Schmidt, though, after a strong start against the Atlanta Braves.

This time, he was steady the whole way against a lineup he considers one of the best in baseball.

“I’m a big guy on mechanics and video,” Schmidt said. “Not that it made a difference. I made a few tweaks on my delivery and simplified my whole game plan.”

Schmidt entered 0-2 against St. Louis this season, having allowed 11 hits in 12 innings for eight earned runs. He is now 7-6 against the Cardinals for his career.

“Let me tell you something, this guy was great,” catcher Benito Santiago said. “This guy was throwing 97-98 in the eighth inning, and any time you see that that’s a plus.”