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Win: Adam Wainwright (19-9)
Loss: Mike Fiers (6-3)
HR: None
Six days after breaking Giancarlo Stanton's face on a hit-by-pitch, Mike Fiers turned in one of the best pitching performances of his career. The Brewers offense couldn't hold up their end of the bargain, however, and the Brewers took a loss.
For nearly six full innings, Fiers had faced the minimum number of batters. He had walked Daniel Descalso, but he was promptly caught stealing. For a brief moment, we could dream that Fiers might break the Brewers' no-hitter drought and allow Bill Schroeder to finally be able to move on to other things. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright singled on a 1-2 fastball to end any hope of that.
The next inning, a walk, an error and two singles plated two runs for the Cardinals. They would be the only runs of the game. Fiers finished having allowed three hits in seven innings as just one of the two St. Louis runs was earned. Fiers struck out seven to go with two walks.
On most days, Fiers' performance would be enough for a win. With Adam Wainwright pitching for the Cardinals, however, nothing is a sure thing. Though the Brewers out-hit the Cardinals 7-3, Milwaukee failed to plate a single run. Their best chance came in the fourth when they loaded the bases with two outs, but a Jean Segura liner couldn't find grass and instead turned into the third out. The rest of the Brewers five hits and one walk were scattered well enough to pose very little threat.
Carlos Gomez and Gerardo Parra each picked up a pair of hits for the Brewers. Jonathan Lucroy reached base twice on a single and a walk. There were no extra base hits by either squad.
Day two of The Most Important Six Games was a failure, but not for lack of effort by Mike Fiers. The Brewers couldn't have been expected to win all six games, and, really, the most important are probably the three against the Pirates. But, man, every loss really hurts now. Hopefully the Brewers can get a win back tomorrow.