Wednesday’s Game Report: Brewers 4, Cardinals 1
Jack Flaherty’s career numbers for August coming into his start on Wednesday were almost perfect.
In 10 starts last year and this month Flaherty was 8-0 with a 0.70 ERA, having allowed only five runs in 64 innings. In five starts this season he was 4-0 with an even better ERA – 0.20, having allowed just one run in 32 innings.
His bid to remain undefeated in the month, however, came up short against the Brewers.
An unearned run set up by a throwing error by Kolten Wong in the first inning was followed by runs in the second and fourth as the Cardinals saw their six-game winning streak end with the loss to the Brewers.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals advanced only one runner to second base in the first five innings, Flaherty, after he beat out a bunt since in the third and went to second on a two-out single by Wong before he was stranded … Wong homered leading off the sixth, his 10th of the season. He also doubled in the eighth off Josh Hader, collecting three of the team’s seven hits … Yadier Molina also stayed hot with a pair of singles … They struck out 15 times and drew only one walk.
On the mound: The other runs off Flaherty came when Ryan Braun doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly in the second and on a home run by Keston Hiura leading off the fourth. Flaherty walked one and stuck out seven … John Brebbia worked a 1-2-3 seventh before Tyler Webb walked Christian Yelich with two outs in the eighth and he scored on a double by Hiura off Dominic Leone … Cardinals pitchers held Yelich to three hits, all singles, in the three games with no RBIs. In his first seven games against the Cardinals this season Yelich hit eight homers and drove in 19 runs but in the last nine games he has only five hits, four singles and a double, with no RBIs.
Key stat: In his eight starts since the All-Star break prior to Wednesday, Flaherty had allowed a total of four runs in 49 1/3 innings, an ERA of 0.73. Flaherty was 4-0 while the Cardinals were 6-2 in those eight games, scoring one run in each of the two losses.
Worth noting: The Arizona Fall League released its rosters for the upcoming season on Wednesday, including Cardinals’ top prospect Dylan Carlson. Also named to the roster for the Glendale Desert Dogs from the organization were third baseman Elehuris Montero, catcher Ivan Herrera, infielder Kramer Robertson and pitchers Griffin Roberts, Seth Elledge and Kodi Whitley. The season begins earlier this season, on Sept. 18 … The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they have released infielder-outfielder Drew Robinson, who was on the Memphis roster but has missed much of this season because of injuries. The move frees up a spot on the 40-man roster for a possible callup when rosters can be expanded on Sept. 1.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals have the day off on Thursday before returning home on Friday for a four-game series against the Reds, which includes a day-night doubleheader on Saturday.
