Saturday’s Game Report: Brewers 3, Cardinals 2 (10 innings)
By Rob Rains
The pitching matchup of Adam Wainwright and Corbin Burnes made it likely that hits would be hard to come by in Saturday night’s game between the Cardinals and Brewers.
That was indeed the case as Wainwright held the Brewers hitless until his old nemesis, Andrew McCutchen, singled with two outs in the seventh inning.
It was a hit in the next inning, however, that Wainwright really would have liked to have had back. After the Cardinals gave him a 1-0 lead in the seventh, a home run by Luis Urias tied the game and cost Wainwright a chance for the win.
The game went to extra innings, where the Brewers scored twice off Giovanny Gallegos and held off the Cardinals in the bottom of the inning to snap the Cardinals’ nine-game winning streak at Busch Stadium.
The loss also cut their division lead over the Brewers back to a half-game going into the series finale on Sunday.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals had only two hits off Burnes before Paul Goldschmidt led off the seventh with a single. One out later, Nolan Gorman doubled to drive in Goldschmidt with the first run of the game … Yadier Molina led off the eighth with a single but he never moved off first base … In the 10th, Paul DeJong singled to advice the ghost runner, Gorman, to third, where he scored on a sacrifice fly by Dylan Carlson … DeJong stayed at first, however, as Molina and Tommy Edman struck out to end the game.
On the mound: Wainwright allowed just three hits and one walk in his nine-inning effort, striking out eight. It was the second time this season he has thrown nine innings without getting a win … After a two-out walk in the first he retired the next 18 hitters in a row before McCutchen’s single … Gallegos gave up a leadoff triple in the 10th that scored the ghost runner, then a sacrifice fly drove in the second run.
Key stat: McCutchen has more hits off Wainwright, 25, than any of the 1,244 hitters he has faced during his career. Urias has only six career hits off Wainwright, but three of them have been home runs.
Worth noting: Corey Dickerson was in the original lineup but was scratched after reportedly aggravating his calf again. He was supposedly going to get an MRI but he came into the game in right field in the ninth inning after Albert Pujols pinch-hit for Lars Nootbaar … If Juan Yepez gets through the weekend at his rehab assignment in Memphis without incident he could be in line to rejoin the Cardinals on Tuesday, which would necessitate a roster move.
Looking ahead: Miles Mikolas will get the start on Sunday in the series finale.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
