St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – Carlos Gomez had two hits, including an
RBI double, helping the Milwaukee Brewers beat Adam Wainwright and the St.
Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.
Matt Garza (1-1) picked up the win despite giving up two runs — one earned —
on six hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings.
The Brewers played their first road game of the season after being outscored
36-16 by Colorado and Pittsburgh during a 1-5 homestand.
The Cardinals went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position in their
home opener, stranding 12 men on base.
“We couldn’t get that big hit when we needed it,” Cardinals manager Mike
Matheny said.
Wainwright (1-1) pitched on seven days’ rest after beating the Cubs last
Sunday and yielded five runs — three earned — on eight hits and a walk,
striking out four.
Jhonny Peralta had two hits and two RBI for the Cardinals, who went 3-2 on
their rain-shortened road trip to start the season.
The Brewers took a 5-2 lead in the seventh inning on their first two RBI hits
of the day — Gomez’s double and Jonathan Lucroy’s single — before Wainwright
got Ryan Braun on a double play to end the inning.
The Cardinals pulled within 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh when Braun let
Peralta’s hit get past him in right field for a two-run double. The Brewers
intentionally walked Kolten Wong with a man at third, putting the go-ahead
run on, but the gamble worked when Randal Grichuk grounded out.
Francisco Rodriguez earned his first save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth. He
threw his glove up near his head to catch a sharp line drive hit by Peralta
for the first out.
Leadoff baserunners produced two runs for each team in the first four innings.
Gomez scored in the first inning after reaching base on Wong’s error and a
leadoff single by Kris Davis led to another Brewers run in the second.
A leadoff double by Matt Carpenter helped get St. Louis on the board in the
third and back-to-back walks by Yadier Molina and Wong in the fourth helped
the Cardinals tie the score at 2-2 when Wainwright bunted and shortstop Jean
Segura overthrew first base trying to turn a double play.
Milwaukee scored a third consecutive run via a groundout and took a 3-2 lead
in the sixth inning after Braun led off with a single, went to third on Adam
Lind’s double and came home on Aramis Ramirez’s grounder to short.
Game Notes
The Cardinals activated catcher Tony Cruz from the paternity leave list and
optioned catcher Ed Easley to Triple-A Memphis … The Brewers beat St. Louis
for the second time in their last six meetings.
