Brewers Blow 3-1 Lead, Recover To Beat Cardinals 5-3 In 10 Innings

W: LaTroy Hawkins (1-0)
L: Octavio Dotel (2-2)
S: John Axford (33)

HR: Corey Hart (17)

MVP: Casey McGehee (+.134)
LVP: Ryan Braun (-.181)

Win Expectancy Graph and Star of the Game Voting

Redemption is a beautiful thing sometimes.

The Brewers scored three runs tonight on Corey Hart's home run and Jonathan Lucroy's RBI single, but those tallies covered for the fact that the middle of the order was really struggling. The 3-6 hitters in the Brewer lineup (Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Casey McGehee and Yuniesky Betancourt) went 0-for their first 17 tonight before Fielder had the first hit in the tenth, bouncing a ball through the shift and into center. McGehee had the second one, a double that drove home Nyjer Morgan and gave the Brewers the lead.

Injuries were another big story tonight, but thankfully all the news appears to be good. First Corey Hart, who missed Sunday's game after taking a pitch off his hand Saturday, was a late addition to the lineup and rewarded Ron Roenicke with a third inning home run, driving in the Brewers' first two runs.

Meanwhile, Shaun Marcum had an interesting night. He was caught in a rundown between third and home to end the fifth inning, and was visibly limping after the play. The issue appeared to be cramping, however, and Marcum was able to work through it and pitch six innings. The defense let him down a bit in the sixth, though, as a Ryan Braun error and a couple of singles led to the tying run scoring. Takashi Saito, Francisco Rodriguez, LaTroy Hawkins and John Axford each pitched scoreless innings out of the bullpen to give the Brewers a chance to win.

Ryan Braun has only had two 0-for-5 games all season, but they've come in his last two games.