Monday’s Game Report: Brewers 9, Cardinals 3
By Rob Rains
One of the biggest differences between the first-place Brewers and the third-place Cardinals was evident during Monday’s game in Milwaukee.
While the Brewers only hit one more home run than the Cardinals, three to two, what happened on those home runs told the story of the day, and what has happened to the two teams this season.
The Brewers’ three home runs were a grand slam, a three-run homer and a two-run shot, producing all nine of their runs. The Cardinals home runs, both from Pedro Pages, came with nobody on base.
The Brewers have only hit 10 more home runs than the Cardinals’ this season, 154 to 144, but 57 of their homers have come with at least one runner in scoring position. The Cardinals have only hit 25 with a runner in scoring position.
Including the two home runs from Pages, 81 of the Cardinals home runs have come with nobody on base.
The Brewers, who increased their lead over the Cardinals to 12 games, have outscored the Cardinals 677-575 and have a run differential of plus 139 while the Cardinals run differential during their .500 season is minus 58.
Here is how Monday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Pages had the first two-homer game of his career, leading off the second with his fourth homer of the season before going deep again with one out in the fifth … Their other run came in the sixth when Brendan Donovan singled, went to third on a double by Paul Goldschmidt and scored on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Luken Baker, who has driven in a run in the last five games he has played … The Cardinals drew five walks to go with their six hits but only one of those five free runners advanced past first base and they had only two at-bats with a runner in scoring position.
On the mound: Andre Pallante gave up a three-run homer to Willy Adames in the first inning and the two-run homer, by Rhys Hoskins, in the fourth. Pallante had allowed only one home run in his previous seven starts covering 41 innings. He also issued a career-high five walks, two of which ended up scoring … The grand slam by Jackson Chourio came off Riley O’Brien in the sixth after he walked two and gave up a double in front of the grand slam … Kyle Leahy retired all seven hitters he faced over the final 2 1/3 innings, striking out four.
Key stat: Adames’ home run was his 13th three-run homer of the season, which ties the major-league record set by Ken Griffey Jr. in 1996. The Cardinals have hit nine three-run homers as a team, only three coming since the All-Star break.
Worth noting: Goldschmidt extended his streak with at least one double to five consecutive games, the longest by a Cardinal since Matt Carpenter doubled in six games in a row in 2017. The team record is eight consecutive games with a double by Yadier Molina in 2016 … Donovan had been 0-of-14 against Freddy Peralta before he singled in the fourth and sixth, the most at-bats he had against any pitcher without at least one hit … The Cardinals fell to 3-8 against the Brewers, including a 1-4 record in Milwaukee.
Looking ahead: Steven Matz, who was activated off the injured list on Sunday, will start the second game of the series on Tuesday night. It will be his first start in the majors since hurting his back on April 30.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
