Friday’s Game Report: Brewers 8, Cardinals 4
By Rob Rains
It was another rough night for the Cardinals’ bullpen.
Throwing errors by Justin Bruihl and Cade Winquest helped the Brewers snap a 4-4 tie with a four-run eighth inning Friday night in Milwaukee to hand the Cardinals their 83rd loss.
The inning also included a hit batter (by Bruihl), three hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly as the Cardinals suffered another loss in an opponent’s final at-bat.
The bad inning came after the Cardinals got home runs from Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson in the seventh to tie the game.
The Brewers, who have clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, improved to 9-2 against the Cardinals this season, including a 4-0 mark in Milwaukee.
Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals’ only hit through the first six innings off Robert Gasser was a fourth-inning homer by Ivan Herrera, his 19th of the season … With Gasser out of the game, Walker led off the seventh with his 29th homer, and second this month, and after a single by Leo Bernal, Burleson came off the bench and hit a two-run homer off the right field foul pole, his 25th of the year … Walker’s homer was his 101st RBI and snapped a streak of 68 plate appearances since his last RBI.
On the mound: Michael McGreevy was charged with four runs over his 4 2/3 innings, including one runner who scored when Brycen Mautz issued a bases-loaded walk … In the eighth, Luis Gastelum gave up a leadoff single before Bruihl relieved and hit David Hamilton with his first pitch. On an attempted sacrifice bunt, Bruihl threw high to first base and then gave up a two-run single to Brice Turang … Cade Winquest relieved and had a runner picked off second but made a wild throw to third and William Contreras followed with an RBI single … It was the Cardinals’ second consecutive loss in the opponent’s final at-bat.
Key stat: Before Burleson’s pinch-hit homer, Pete Alonso of the Orioles had tied Burleson for the MLB lead in RBIs with 113. Burleson now has a two-RBI lead with two games left in the season.
Worth noting: The Cardinals optioned Cooper Hjerpe to Memphis on Friday, even though the Triple A season is over, because he would not be available to pitch this weekend. They recalled Hancel Rincon from Memphis, supposedly to give them a fresh arm, but he threw 42 pitches on Wednesday night in the final game of the International League Championship Series and likely won’t be able to pitch until Sunday.
Up next: Quinn Mathews will get the start on Saturday night in the next to last game of the season. Dustin May, traded by the Cardinals at the deadline, will start for the Brewers.
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