Brewers can’t hold off Cardinals rally, lose 6-3

Box Score

The Brewers had a chance to re-take the NL Central lead and take an 8-7 lead in the season series between them and the Cardinals. They had the lead early, but couldn’t build off of that. Meanwhile, the pitching staff couldn’t hold off the Cardinals rally, and the Brewers lost to the Cardinals 6-3.

The Brewers struck first thanks to a two-run home run from Hunter Renfroe in the second. The Cardinals responded right away in the bottom of the inning with a solo home run from Albert Pujols. After two innings, the Brewers had a 2-1 lead. They held that until the sixth inning, when Tyler O’Neill homered to tie the game at 2-2.

Aaron Ashby had a good day today. He recorded the quality start with six innings pitched, two runs allowed on three hits, two walks and five strikeouts. Both of the runs he allowed came on solo home runs. However, Miles Mikolas had the better day, with eight innings pitched and two runs allowed. Other than the two-run home run, no Brewers runner made it past second while he was pitching.

It all fell apart for the Brewers in the eighth inning, with Taylor Rogers pitching. After a strikeout to start the inning, Rogers allowed a solo home run to Dylan Carlson, and the Cardinals were ahead 3-2. He then allowed a single to O’Neill that Luis Urias botched the throw on, letting O’Neill reach second. A walk to Paul Goldschmidt put a second runner on base, but a strikeout to Nolan Arenado gave Rogers a way out of the inning. It didn’t matter, though, as Pujols hit his second home run of the day to put the Cardinals up 6-2. That ended Rogers’ day, as Peter Strzelecki struck out Paul DeJong to end the inning. The home runs Rogers allowed were only his second and third home runs allowed this season.

The Brewers attempted to rally in the ninth against Ryan Helsley. Two quick outs put the Brewers on the brink of the loss, but Rowdy Tellez homered to keep hope alive. Andrew McCutchen singled to keep the rally attempt going, but Renfroe grounded out to end the game.

McCutchen was the only Brewer to have two hits in the game. The Cardinals pitching staff didn’t give the Brewers any free runners as they had no walks, though the Brewers pitchers did have more strikeouts. Despite the six hits as a team, the Crew did not have any at-bats with a runner in scoring position. Between both teams, all of the runs scored on home runs, and the Cardinals led that with four compared to the Brewers’ two.

Up next for the Brewers is a difficult series at home against the NL-leading Dodgers. Freddy Peralta will face Julio Urias in the first game of the series. First pitch is at 7:10 PM and it will be on Bally Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.