Brewers held to one hit after second inning, fall to Cardinals 6-2

Box Score

An early home run by Willy Adames provided some energy, but the Brewers offense quickly evaporated in a 6-2 loss against the Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Chi Chi Gonzalez got the ball as a spot starter in place of Aaron Ashby, who was placed on the injured list yesterday.

While he wasn’t especially effective, Gonzalez ate some innings and kept his team in the game, which is exactly what the Brewers were looking for. He went four innings, allowing three runs on four hits, including a home run to Cardinals second baseman Nolan Gorman. The right-hander struck out two and walked one.

In his Brewers debut, Gonzalez turned to his slider as his go-to pitch, throwing it 42% of the time. He threw it 27% of the time in two starts for the Twins this year and never used it more than 23% of the time in previous seasons.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to three first-inning hits. Milwaukee quickly evened it up thanks to a two-run blast by Willy Adames in the bottom half of the inning.

Gonzalez settled down in the second and third innings, at one point retiring five in a row. However, a poor execution on a 1-2 pitch to Gorman untied the game in the fourth. Gonzalez grooved a fastball right down the middle, and Gorman sent it to dead center field for a 428-foot home run.

Brent Suter and Miguel Sanchez combined for scoreless fifth and sixth innings. In the seventh, Gorman got another middle-middle pitch, this one a changeup from Sanchez. He launched it into the visitor’s bullpen for his second home run of the game, making it 4-2.

The Cardinals would string together four hits against Peter Strzelecki in the eighth to plate two more runs and make it 6-2.

As St. Louis continued to tack on insurance runs, the Brewers’ offense disappeared. Jack Flaherty battled his command, issuing five walks and lasting just three innings, but Milwaukee left five men on base and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position against him.

After Christian Yelich singled with two outs in the second inning, they did not manage another hit until Luis Urias doubled with one out in the ninth. An Andrew McCutchen walk in the fifth was their only baserunner during that hitless stretch.

If there is any silver lining for the Brewers, it’s that the Cardinals used Giovanny Gallegos and Ryan Helsley for two innings each to finish the game despite having a four-run lead. This could leave them without at least one of their best relievers tomorrow.

The two teams will square off again at the same time tomorrow night. Eric Lauer looks to turn around what has been a tough month of June, while the veteran Adam Wainwright toes the rubber for the Cardinals. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. CDT.