Thursday’s Game Report: Brewers 6, Cardinals 0
By Rob Rains
Two pitchers made their major-league debut on Thursday night in Milwaukee and even though Andre Granillo pitched very well for the Cardinals, it was the Brewers’ pitcher who was the star of the evening.
Jacob Misiorowski did not allow a hit over his five innings and the Brewers got to Sonny Gray with five runs in the fifth inning to win the opener of their four-game series.
Misiorowski came out of the game in the sixth while pitching to leadoff hitter Victor Scott II with what the Brewers announced later was tightness in his right quad and calf.
The Brewers collected 13 hits in the game, the 10th consecutive game in which the Cardinals allowed nine or more hits.
The loss was the fifth in a row for the Cardinals and dropped them into third place in the NL Central, a half game behind the Brewers.
Here is how Thursday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: After being no-hit through the first six innings, the Cardinals finally got a hit from Willson Contreras leading off the seventh but he was thrown out at second … Alec Burleson and Nolan Arenado followed with singles but both were left on base when Nolan Gorman and Pedro Pages were retired, completing the extent of the Cardinals’ offense for the night … Lars Nootbaar drew one of the four walks the Cardinals received but was hitless in his other three at-bats, leaving him with just one hit in his last 27 at-bats.
On the mound: Gray gave up a run in the second inning but had allowed only three hits in the 1-0 game going into the fifth inning. Five consecutive hits knocked him out of the game, with the Brewers driving in four runs on back-to-back pitches, a two-run single by Sal Frelick followed by a two-run homer from Jackson Chourio … Granillo, promoted from Memphis earlier in the day, relieved Gray and got out of the inning without further damage. He allowed two hits over his 2 1/3 scoreless innings … John King pitched around a pair of singles in the eighth to keep the Brewers from adding to their lead.
Key stat: The four runs allowed by Gray on consecutive pitches equaled the number of runs he had allowed over his previous 29 innings.
Worth noting: Granillo’s promotion was one of several roster moves by the Cardinals. Michael Siani also was recalled from Memphis, with Ryan Vilade designated for assignment and Chris Roycroft optioned back to the Triple A club … Jordan Walker began his rehab assignment with Memphis at Gwinnett on Thursday night and was 0-of-2 with a walk before the game was suspended because of inclement weather.
Up next: Erick Fedde will try to snap the Cardinals’ losing streak when he gets the start on Friday night in the second game of the series.
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