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Cardinals @ Brewers 8.9 recap - Carp gives hope, but bullpen blip blows lead

Carp gives hope, but bullpen coughs up late lead.

By WyoCardsFan
Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

St. Louis Cardinals @ Milwaukee Brewers

John Lackey (9-7, 2/85 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 1.190 WHIP)  vs. Jimmy Nelson (9-9, 3.57 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 1.228 FIP)
1:10 p.m. CT 
Miller Park - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Today's Lineups -

Some News -

Things we were looking for -

The Cards look to extend their 36-inning scoreless streak.  A good showing on that front today could mark a club record.  Molina takes a seat today.

Things that happened -

Top halves -

Jimmy Nelson made quick work of the top three in the Cardinal order, getting harmless grounders from each.

Jason Heyward got things going for the Cardinals with a double to right-center in the second.  A couple strikeouts and a groundout left him on to end the inning.

Tony Cruz reached via infield hit to leadoff the third, and Randal Grichuk singled in the fourth, but nothing doing in the runs column through the fifth.

The Cards broke through in the sixth.  Kolten Wong singled and stole a base, and Heyward picked up an RBI by looping a liner over Segura's head.  Brewers lead 3-1.

In the seventh, Brandon Moss infield hit himself to first base.  Stephen Piscotty knocked a hit just past the outstretched glove of Scooter Gennett.  Cruz got them to second and third with a bad sac bunt attempt that worked out ok.  Mark Reynolds pinch hit.  He hit one hard off the mound- Moss should have scored, but misread the bounce, and was stuck at third.  Reynolds did well to stay in play long enough for Piscotty to get back to second base, having read the ball off Reynolds' bat correctly and taking off towards third.  Mr. Matt Carpenter bailed them all out, though.  When Jimmy Nelson's 89-m.p.h slider came in, Carp was waiting.  And he pounced on it.  He hit a bomb of a homer over the bullpen in right field, scoring three and putting the Cards on top 4-3.

Nelson's final line: 7 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 98 pitches.

Will Smith pitched a clean 8th for the Crew.

Francisco Rodriguez, known this year for his work in the All Star Game, came in to try to close out the win for the Brewers of Milwaukee.  Moss popped out.  Piscotty grounded out, bringing up Tony Cruz as the Cardinals' final hope.  That AB didn't go well either, and the Brewers win 5-4.

Bottom halves -

John Lackey had a similarly easy first inning, using 10 pitches to record three outs.

Lackey got out of the second with a line-out double play after walking Jonathan Lucroy.

Jean Segura collected the first Brewer hit to leadoff the third.  After a seemingly failed attempt to steal second, the Brewers decided to have the out call reviewed.  The folks in New York upheld the out call on the field (and it was very close, but correct), much to the dismay of the Brewer faithful.  Their boos quickly turned to cheers, however, as Elian Herrera knocked the very next pitch over the right field wall to put the Brewers on the board, and snapped the Cardinal pitcher scoreless streak at 38 1/3 innings.  Lackey proceeded to walk Shane Peterson, and then Khris Davis gave the Brewers another two-spot with a homer to left-center.  Brewers lead 3-0.

Lackey fared much better in the fourth, turning in a 1-2-3 inning.  Birthday boy Heyward made a nice sliding catch to rob Lucroy of a hit.

A 3-6-1 double play helped Lackey work around a leadoff Segura single in the fifth.  His 1-2-3 sixth was easy, too.  That was the end of his day, as he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh.  Lackey's final line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 66 pitches thrown.

Randy Choate started out the seventh by walking Adam Lind.  That brought in Seth Maness (I feel like I've seen this movie before).   Maness quickly worked his DP witchcraft to erase the walk, but then allowed a single to Gennett and a walk to Segura.  His bout of wildness had no lasting effects, and he was able to get a fly out to end the inning.

Kevin Siegrist in the eighth (I HAVE seen this movie before).  Jason Rogers broke his bat, but got a leadoff single out of it.  Shane Peterson sac-bunted him to second.  Mike Matheny made the move to bring in Jonathan Broxton.  Davis promptly deposited his first pitch into the seats for his second 2-run dinger of the day, putting the Brewers back on top for good.  Brewers up 5-4.

Final Notes -


  • Lackey had settled in and could have given the Cards more innings.  The scoring opportunity in the seventh took president, though.  Mark Reynolds may not have been the best choice as the pinch hitter, but he actually did what he needed to do, if Moss had better read the ball as a baserunner.

  • Heyward had a good showing on his birthday, going 2-4 with an RBI.

  • Maness was weirdly wild, and Siegrist had some trouble throwing strikes, too.

  • Fangraphs

  • Gamenotes: Cardinals | Brewers

Looking ahead -

Tune in Tuesday for a marquis matchup between the top two clubs in the division and the league.  Jeff Locke will take the mound in Busch Stadium for the Bucks.  He will be opposed by Carlos Martinez.  The fun will begin at 7:15 CT.

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