Brewers lose 9-4, Cardinals now 4 up on Brew Crew in NL Central

The Brewers got 12 hits tonight. That would generally indicate a pretty good night for Milwaukee. This was not a good night. Defensive snafus, bloop hits by the Cardinals, and Brewers’ pitchers who could not find the strike zone made up the storyline in this one.

Gio Gonzalez took the mound for the Brewers. Michael Wacha would do the same for the Cardinals. Neither would pitch deep in this one.

The Cardinals got the scoring started in the bottom of the fourth. Marcel Oauna hit a ball softly up the middle that Gonzalez deflected with his glove. That deflection was enough to allow Ozuna to safely reach base. The hitter following Ozuna was Paul DeJong. He walked him. Yadier Molina followed with a single that scored Ozuna, and the Cardinals had the early lead.

Gonzalez threw a 3-2 strike to Harrison Bader that the home plate umpire called a ball. That loaded the bases and upset Gonzalez causing a mound visit by Yasmani Grandal to calm him down. During that break, Cardinals’ manager, Mike Shildt, went for the big inning. He pinch hit for Michael Wacha with Lane Smith. The move did not work out as Smith flew out to Lorenzo Cain. That would be about all that wouldn’t go St. Louis’ way in this one.

Ryan Helsley replaced Wacha in the fifth. After a scoreless fifth, he had to face the man who was the first hitter he ever faced in the majors, Christian Yelich. Yelich got him for a home run that night. He got him for a double down the left field line in this one. After getting Keston Hiura, Helsley was replaced by John Gant. Gant would give up an RBI single to Eric Thames, scoring Yelich to tie the game.

Thames would eventually come around to score on a single by Orlando Arcia.

After the Brewers took the lead in the sixth, the wheels came off. Jeremy Jeffress took the ball to begin the bottom of the sixth inning. He would not record an out, and it occurred in frustrating fashion. Ozuna singled. DeJong was hit by a pitch that really was not that far inside. Yadier Molina singled in the hole for an infield hit, and Jeffress’ night was done.

Junior Guerra would get the call after Alex Claudio got his one hitter after replacing Jeffress. Dexter Fowler hit a flare to left field that fell between three Brewers and frankly should have been caught as Ryan Braun peeled off instead of taking charge. Looking on stunned the Brewers’ defense watched Fowler dash to second and the bases clear.

The seventh inning was an awful thing to witness too. Paul Goldschmidt led off the inning with a single to right. Ozuna followed with a single to left. Paul DeJong hit a ground ball that led to an out at second but not at first. Albers walked Molina to load the bases. Kolten Wong singled, scoring Goldschmidt and DeJong. Wong next stole second, and Albers walked the bases loaded once again and Bader once again. Next he walked Fowler to keep the bases loaded and allow the eighth run of the game to score.

Albers was mercifully replaced by Drew Pomeranz. Unfortunately he walked in another run. This time the free pass went to Tommy Edman. That was the ninth walk of the evening, and the Cardinals had a 9-2 lead.

The Brewers did not quit at least. Keston Hiura led off the eighth inning with a double. Ryan Braun singled sending Hiura to third. Hiura scored on a single by Hernan Perez. Braun would score on a sacrifice fly by Arcia.

Unfortunately that would be as close as the Brewers would get. In one of the more frustrating games of the season, Milwaukee falls 9-4.

The Brewers will look to salvage something and try not to be swept as they play the final game of this series with St. Louis. Adrian Houser is scheduled to go for the Brewers. Adam Wainwright get the ball for St. Louis. The game can be heard on WTMJ and seen on Fox Sports Wisconsin with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 CT.