Randy Wolf Shuts Down Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers Win 4-1

W: Randy Wolf (12-9)
L: Jake Westbrook (11-8)
S: John Axford (41)

HR: Ryan Braun (27), Nyjer Morgan (4)

MVP: Randy Wolf (+.317 pitching, +.039 batting for +.356 total)
LVP: Jerry Hairston Jr. (-.049)

Win Expectancy Graph and Star of the Game Voting

This was a pretty big win, dropping the Brewer magic number to eleven to clinch the NL Central.

Randy Wolf was the star today, pitching eight innings for the third time in six starts and allowing just one run on four hits, walking two and striking out five on 112 pitches. Wolf and Yuniesky Betancourt (batting ninth and eighth, respectively) also combined for five of the Brewers' 12 hits on the day.

Meanwhile, the Brewers scored individual runs in the second, third, sixth and seventh in support of Wolf. Two of those runs scored on solo home runs for Ryan Braun and Nyjer Morgan despite a pretty strong wind blowing in from center.

Today's other stuff:

• Jerry Hairston Jr. left the game in the middle of the fourth inning with neck soreness, and was replaced at second base by Craig Counsell.
• Corey Hart drove in the Brewers' first run with a two-out single in the second, extending his hitting streak to 17 games.
• Ryan Braun had two hits today to keep his average at .335.