MILWAUKEE -- After allowing five runs over five laborious innings against the Brewers last week, Adam Wainwright was already looking forward to his next turn in the rotation, which just so happened to come against the very same Brewers.

"I need a rematch," Wainwright said.

That rematch came Monday night and didn't go as well as the veteran right-hander had hoped. Wainwright held Milwaukee to just two runs on six hits and three walks but didn’t get out of the fourth inning for just the third time this season.

Fortunately for Wainwright, the offense more than made up for his struggles, erupting for eight runs in the first two innings as the Cardinals coasted to a 12-2 victory at Miller Park for their fifth consecutive win.

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"It was awesome," Wainwright said. "[The offense] really put us on their backs tonight."

A day before Wainwright's last outing against the Brewers, Milwaukee left-hander Gio Gonzalez stymied the Cardinals’ offense, allowing just a run on three hits and four walks over five innings of work.

It was a much different story Monday night, as the Cardinals took a 2-0 lead on Yadier Molina's two-run single in the first inning and then broke the game open with a six-run second, highlighted by a three-run double from Marcell Ozuna.

Home runs from Molina and Paul DeJong added insurance runs in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively, as the Cardinals beat Milwaukee for the seventh time in eight tries and also extended their lead in the National League Central to three games over the idle Cubs, while third-place Milwaukee fell to 5 1/2 games back.

"Good at-bats travel," said Cardinals manager Mike Shildt, whose team is averaging 8.6 runs per game during its five-game winning streak. "Just really pleased in general with our patience and our calmness, letting the game come to us, everybody seeing the ball well and not trying to do too much. They were still aggressive, but just aggressive with balls they could hit. Just seeing the ball well, staying under control, then putting good swings on it all through the lineup. It was a good team offensive approach, game plan and execution."

Wainwright had worked into and out of trouble through his first three innings. Milwaukee got on the board in the second on an RBI single by Cory Spangenberg. Wainwright stranded a pair in the third, but he allowed an RBI double to Lorenzo Cain with two outs in the fourth, then walked Yasmani Grandal, bringing his day to an abrupt and early end after 90 pitches.

"Waino was fighting himself a little bit," Shildt said. "He couldn't quite consistently repeat his command. He was as gutsy as ever, laying everything he had out there. He was just having trouble repeating the pitches he likes to repeat. He still had some pitches left, but at that point in time, I just wanted to get a different look with [Christian] Yelich and some of the guys they had coming up."

The move, Wainwright admitted, stung, but it was one he understood.

"If I get Grandal out, I'm sure he sends me back out, but I didn't earn that," Wainwright said. "The toughest part about today was I had a seven-run lead at that point and my manager looked out there and thought, 'We better make a change.' That hurts. It hurts my soul, it really does, but that's on me."

Over his last three starts, Wainwright has allowed 11 runs (10 earned) over 15 1/3 innings.

"It's been a rough couple of weeks for me, really," Wainwright said. "I'm trying to make the most of it, I'm trying to battle and keep our team in the game. It's a long season and you're going to go through ruts like that every now and then. Unfortunately, I can look at a couple of starts in a row and say it's been a tough grind for the last 10 or 12 days for me now. I just have to keep battling, keep pitching and keep competing, and when it comes back, it's going to be great."

St. Louis' bullpen held Milwaukee scoreless over the final 5 1/3 innings, with John Gant (9-0) striking out three in his 2 1/3 innings.

"It was a good win for us the first day here," Wainwright said.