Friday’s Game Report: Cardinals 3, Brewers 1
By Rob Rains
Jordan Montgomery knew as soon as he joined the Cardinals how much defensive help he would get from Gold Glovers Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt.
He is finding out those two guys can provide a little bit of help offensively too.
Montgomery worked six scoreless innings in his second start since being acquired from the Yankees and Goldschmidt and Arenado homered for the second consecutive game to lead the Cardinals to the win over the Brewers in the opener of a three-game series at Busch Stadium.
The win was the ninth in a row for the Cardinals at home and increased their lead in the NL Central to 1 ½ games over the Brewers. The nine wins in a row at home equals the most in Busch Stadium 3 history, tying the mark set in 2015.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: Goldschmidt staked the Cardinals to a 2-0 lead when he followed a leadoff walk to Dylan Carlson with a two-run homer in the first inning, his 28th of the season … It was his seventh home run in the first inning … The Cardinals had only three more hits until Arenado led off the sixth with his 24th homer … The Cardinals were 0-of-4 with a runner in scoring position.
On the mound: Montgomery gave up four hits, struck out eight and walked two over his six innings, coming out of the game after throwing 108 pitches. He has now worked a combined 11 scoreless innings in his first two starts for the Cardinals … A leadoff triple off Andre Pallante in the seventh led to Milwaukee’s only run … Ryan Helsley got the save by working the final two innings, pitching around a leadoff single in each inning.
Key stat: Montgomery is the first starter to not allow a run and get wins in both of his first two starts for the Cardinals since Al Jackson in 1966. Kyle Lohse pitched 12 scoreless innings over his first two starts in 2008 but only earned one victory.
Worth noting: Jack Flaherty reported that he felt fine a day after his first rehab start for Memphis, throwing 35 pitches. He is scheduled to make his second start on Tuesday … Won-bin Cho, the 18 -year-old outfielder signed last winter from South Korea, hit the first home run of his professional career on Friday in a game in the rookie Complex League.
Looking ahead: Adam Wainwright will get the start against Corbin Burnes the second game of the series. Members of the 1982 World Series champion Cardinals will be honored in a pre-game ceremony.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
Postgame interviews:
Oliver Marmol
Jordan Montgomery
