Saturday’s Game Report: Cardinals 8, Brewers 5
By Rob Rains
With the Cardinals having lost six games in a row, it was easy to fear that their three-run lead was about to slip away in the eighth inning on Saturday.
The Brewers had the bases loaded, one out and the top of their lineup coming up to bat.
Phil Maton put those fears to rest by striking out both Sal Frelick and Jackson Chourio to strand all three runners and the Cardinals closed out the win in the ninth to snap their longest losing streak of the season.
The Cardinals had built a 7-1 lead on a three-run homer by Nolan Gorman, off lefthander Jose Quintana, in the fifth inning before the Brewers also scored three times in the bottom of the inning to close the gap to 7-4.
That was the score when Maton relieved and got out of a two-on, two-out jam in the seventh. He then allowed a one-out single, hit a batter and walked another to load the bases in the eighth before working his way out of the inning.
Willson Contreras increased the lead to four runs with a home run in the top of the ninth, only to see his brother William also hit a home run, off Ryan Helsley, leading off the bottom of the inning.
Here is how Saturday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Prior to Gorman’s homer, the biggest hit of the game for the Cardinals was a two-run single by Victor Scott II in the fourth. One of the runners who scored was Gorman, who reached on a walk … Alec Burleson had put the Cardinals in front in the first inning with an RBI single driving in Masyn Winn, who led off the game with a single … Gorman’s homer in the fifth followed Contreras being hit by a pitch with one out and a walk to Nolan Arenado … Gorman also drew another walk in the seventh … Jordan Walker had a single and walk in his return to the lineup from the injured list.
On the mound: Andre Pallante was handed the 7-1 lead in the top of the fifth but could not get through the bottom of the inning. After allowing just one hit through the first four innings, Pallante gave up three runs in the bottom of the fifth, recording only one out, before Kyle Leahy relieved and got the final two outs. Leahy worked around a two-out walk and single in the sixth and JoJo Romero got the first two outs in the eighth, but left with two runners on base when Maton came into the game.
Key stat: Gorman came into the game with just two hits and one RBI in 19 at-bats against lefthanded pitching, out of his total of 115 at-bats, this season. His last homer off a lefthanded pitcher had been on May 29, 2024.
Worth noting: The home runs by the Contreras brothers marked the first time brothers had homered in the same game since BJ and Justin Upton did it in 2014, when both played for the Braves. The last time brothers homered for different teams in the same game was Aaron and Bret Boone in 2000 … According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other brothers to homer in the same inning of the same game for opposing teams was Rick and Wes Farrell in 1933 … With Walker returning after playing two rehab games for Memphis, Michael Siani was optioned back to the Triple A team … Ryan Vilade, who had been designated for assignment earlier this week, was claimed on waivers by the Reds … Slumping Lars Nootbaar got the day off on Saturday … Brendan Donovan missed his fourth consecutive game but might be able to play on Sunday.
Up next: Miles Mikolas will get the start on Sunday in the final game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m.
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