Cardinals @ Brewers 7.10 recap: Cards carry series win into All-Star break

St. Louis Cardinals @ Milwaukee Brewers

Mike Leake vs. Junior Guerra

1:15 p.m. CT
Miller Park - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Today's Lineups -

Things that happened -

Top halves -

Junior Guerra started off nicely.  He struck out Tommy Pham with a nasty splitter.  He hit Aledmys Diaz, who got to second on a pitch that got away from Lucroy, but was left stranded when Guerra got the next two guys.

Matt Adams didn't let the Brewers' lead last long.  On the first pitch he saw, leading off the second, he hit a monster dinger into the stands in right field.  Alberto Rosario also picked up a single in the inning, a sharp single to right.  Game tied 1-1.

Pham led off the third with a double to the left center gap.  Jhonny Peralta also walked in the frame, but they were stranded.

Ryan Braun made a nice play on a Randal Grichuk fly ball in the corner in foul ground of deep left field for the first out of the fourth inning.  Kolten Wong walked, but was erased in a double play.

The Cards picked up another one in the fifth.  With two outs, Diaz singled and then scored all the way from first on a Piscotty fly ball that Kirk Nieuwenheis made a nice sliding attempt on but couldn't come up with.  Cards up 2-1.

Randal Grichuk added another with a solo homer of his own in the sixth.  Wong doubled, too, and Leake walked, knocking Guerra out of the game.  Cards up 3-1.

Guerra's final line: 5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 109 pitches thrown.

Tyler Thornberg continued into the seventh.  Diaz flew out after working a 9-pitch at bat, then Piscotty and Peralta hit back-to-back singles, but Tyler struck out the next two to end the threat.

Will Smith pitched the eighth.  Wong picked up a bunt base hit.  Rosario sac bunted him along to second. Matt Holliday pinch hit for Leake but flew out and Pham struck out to end the inning.

Jeremy Jeffress pitched the ninth for the Brewers.  With two outs, Peralta reached on an error, a tough play up the middle for Gennett, and it proved to be costly.  Matt Adams doubled that run home, and then Grichuk singled Adams home to pick up a couple more insurance runs.  Cards lead 5-1.

Bottom halves -

Things didn't look rosy early on for Mike Leake.  Jonathan Villar started things off with a rocket double into left-center.  Leake came back and got Scooter Gennett (groundout, Villar to third) and Ryan Braun (a looking K with a good looking full-count slider), but Jonathan Lucroy drove in Villar for the Brewers to go up 1-0.

Leake had a sweet 1-2-3 in the second, aided by a sweet play behind the bag at second base by Aledmys Diaz (who was on the right side due to the shift).  It was a beauty of a play to get there, and a beauty of a throw.

Junior Guerra doubled on a fly ball that Tommy Pham took a poor route to leading off the third.  When Villar picked up a bunt base hit to put runners on the corners with no outs, it looked grim.  But Leake bounced back and retired Gennett, and was able to pick off Villar at first, and got the final out by striking out Braun looking for the second time.  No damage done.

After a leadoff single by Lucroy in the fourth, Leake struck out the side to work around it.

Leake only picked up one strikeout in the fifth, but still rocked a 1-2-3 inning.  Tommy Pham used his speedy speed to track down a liner.

Diaz put on a defensive show in the sixth, making two separate hit-robbing plays from Braun and Lucroy.  It was another 1-2-3 frame for Leake.

Chris Carter was left on third in the seventh after a leadoff triple.  Mike Leake was done after that, a great outing for him.  His final line: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K, 99 pitches thrown.

Jonathan Broxton pitched the eighth.  It was a nice easy 1-2-3 for him including a couple strikeouts.

Seung Hwan Oh came in to secure the win in a non-save situation.  He did his job well.  Cards win 5-1.

Final Notes -

• Sorry for the lateness of this one.  I was watching the championship game of our vintage baseball tournament in South Pass City, Wyoming this weekend (best known for its mention in the Oregon Trail game).  Here's pictures from last year, if you're intersted.
• Mike Leake walked none and struck out 10 over his 7 innings.  He did look especially nasty.  I dunno why it crossed my mind, but I kept thinking it looked like Leake's best impression of a dominant Lance Lynn start.
• It was hard to tell much, but I was impressed with Rosario's day behind the plate.  He certainly caught a great game from Leake.
• Diaz had a great day defensively.
• Game notes: Cardinals | Brewers

Looking ahead -

The Cards find themselves in second place 7 games back of the Cubbies.  Enjoy the All Star break!  Go Aledmys!  Go NL!