Cardinals 8, Brewers 6

W: Mitchell Boggs (2-2)
L: Zach Braddock (1-3)

HR: Rickie Weeks (26), Corey Hart 2 (27), Yadier Molina (6)

MVP: Yovani Gallardo (+.182)
LVP: Jeremy Jeffress (-.331)
Honorary LVPs: Casey McGehee (1-for-4 with an error, thrown out at the plate) and Todd Coffey (allowed an eighth inning grand slam)

Win Expectancy Graph and Star of the Game Voting
SB Nation Coverage

Well, that wasn't the first impression Jeremy Jeffress was likely hoping for.

Jeffress made his Miller Park debut in the eighth inning and it's hard to imagine him being thrown more directly into the fire: With a runner on first and one out in a tie game, he was brought in to face Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. Jeffress got Pujols to ground to third, and might have had a double play if Casey McGehee had fielded it cleanly. Instead Pujols reached and with runners on first and second, Matt Holliday got a ground ball through the right side and the winning run came home.

From there, the meltdown was on in full force. Brought in to get out of a bases loaded jam, Todd Coffey allowed a single and a Yadier Molina grand slam to remove all doubt.

Yovani Gallardo bounced back nicely from some recent rough performances, pitching seven innings today and allowing two runs on four hits in seven innings. He likely would have been the winning pitcher if not for a wild pitch that allowed Albert Pujols to score the tying run in the sixth. He kept his pitch count down, walking just two, striking out four and getting through seven innings on 97 pitches.

At the plate, the Brewers got solo home runs from Rickie Weeks and Corey Hart, each setting new career highs with their 26th on the season. Hart added a two run shot in the ninth to bring the Brewers back within two. He's now hit four home runs in his last three games. Despite trailing 8-2 in the bottom of the eighth the Brewers brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth, but Prince Fielder grounded out to end it.