St. Louis ? Garrett Stephenson feels good, and it showed.

The former 16-game winner, sidelined because of injuries the past two seasons, allowed one run in 61/3 innings as the St. Louis Cardinals completed an opening three-game sweep of Milwaukee by beating the Brewers, 6-4, Thursday.

“I’m totally healthy and I just need to make quality pitches, which is what I did today,” Stephenson said. “Physically, I feel pretty good. I’ve got a lot of energy.”

Albert Pujols had three RBIs for the NL Central champions, who swept their opening series for the second time in four seasons. St. Louis has swept the Brewers, a franchise-worst 56-106 last year, three times since the start of 2002.

Scott Rolen had a two-run single, and Pujols and Edgar Renteria homered for the Cardinals, who outscored Milwaukee 24-13 in the series. St. Louis begins a three-game series today against the Astros.

“We get the chance to enjoy it until tomorrow,” Rolen said. “Then we have to go out and try to do it again. We have Houston coming in, and that’s a great ballclub, and everybody sees them as a contender.”

Royce Clayton hit a three-run homer in the ninth off Cal Eldred, Clayton’s second three-run homer of the series. Steve Kline got two outs for his second save.

The Brewers head into their home opener today against San Francisco seeking their first win under new manager Ned Yost.

“They’re out there battling to the point where they’re almost pressing,” Yost said. “They’re giving it all that they have to give. Right now there’s not much going in our direction, but these things turn around over the course of 162 games.”

Stephenson (1-0), who missed most of the last two seasons because of elbow and hamstring injuries, allowed four hits.

Milwaukee put on two runners in each of the first two innings but managed only one in the next four. Eddie Perez, who had three hits, chased Stephenson with a home run in the seventh.

“It was definitely a battle,” Stephenson said. “I just tried to keep the game as close as possible until we could strike. We struck well.”

The Cardinals were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the first four innings against Matt Kinney (0-1) before breaking through.

Padres 6, Dodgers 1

San Diego — Wearing camouflage jerseys to honor the military, San Diego looked like a totally different team than the one that stumbled through its opening series. Jake Peavy struck out a career-high 11 and combined with two other pitchers on a two-hitter as the Padres beat Los Angeles to snap a three-game losing streak.

Expos 4, Braves 0

Atlanta — Five-time Gold Glove winner Andruw Jones dropped a routine fly ball to lead to Montreal’s first run, and Brad Wilkerson hit a two-run homer off Braves newcomer Russ Ortiz as the Expos sent Atlanta to its worst start in 15 years. The Braves are 0-3 for the first time since 1988 when they began 0-10.

Cubs 6, Mets 3

New York — Sammy Sosa drove in three runs with a pair of singles and left Shea Stadium still looking for his 500th career homer as Chicago beat New York. Mark Prior (1-0) pitched six sharp innings, Moises Alou drove in three runs and Mark Grudzielanek scored three times. Manager Dusty Baker’s team took two of three, and the Cubs won an opening series for the first time since 1999.

Pirates 7, Reds 5

Cincinnati — Reggie Sanders went 4-for-5 with a pair of homers and four RBIs, and Pittsburgh kept Cincinnati winless at Great American Ball Park. The Pirates came away with most of the ballpark’s historic firsts — the first homer, the first win and the first three-game series sweep. They hit eight homers in all — three by Sanders — as they got off to their first 3-0 start since 1993.

Marlins 8, Phillies 3

Miami — Mark Redman had a career-high 10 strikeouts in his debut for Florida, and the Marlins hit three home runs to avoid being swept by Philadelphia. Juan Encarnacion, Alex Gonzalez and Mike Lowell homered for the Marlins. Ivan Rodriguez added a two-run triple to hike his average to .455 with five RBIs.

Rockies 10, Astros 5

Houston — Bobby Estalella homered twice and Nelson Cruz (1-0) pitched five innings to beat his former team as Colorado avoided a three-game sweep. Estalella hit a solo homer in the second inning against Jeriome Robertson (0-1) and a two-run shot in a seven-run fifth. It was his sixth career multihomer game.