Losing slide extends to six games as Cardinals get trounced by Brewers, 11-2

MILWAUKEE — Going into the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday night, the top four hitters in the Cardinals’ lineup collectively didn’t have a hit or a walk. Meanwhile, each of the top five hitters in the Milwaukee Brewers’ lineup had hits and the top four had already scored at least once.

That painted a clear picture of the offensive disparity and largely told the story of the game as the Cardinals fell by an 11-2 score and lost the second game of their four-game series with the Brewers at American Family Field.

The sixth straight loss for the Cardinals (15-23) dropped their record to eight games below .500 for the first time this season. They’ve now lost eight of their last nine games.

The NL Central Division leading Brewers (23-15) held the Cardinals to five hits behind a strong start by a rookie pitcher in his debut. The Cardinals’ first run came in the seventh inning on Alec Burleson’s RBI double with two outs.

Cardinals second baseman Nolan Gorman, came off the bench in the eighth inning and hit a home run in his only at-bat in the ninth inning.

Rookie catcher Ivan Herrera went 1 for 2 with a run scored, a walk and got hit by a pitch, while rookie shortstop Masyn Winn (1 for 3), center fielder Michael Siani (1 for 3) and Burleson (1 for 3) also had hits. Siani extended his hitting streak to seven games.

Cardinal starting pitcher Lance Lynn (1-1) allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five batters. His strikeout of Brewers leadoff hitter Brice Turang to start the first inning marked the 1,000th strikeout in the National League for the 13th-year veteran big leaguer.

The top half of the Brewers’ lineup — Turang, William Contreras, Christian Yelich, Willy Adames and Rhys Hoskins — combined for nine hits, three walks, six runs batted in and eight runs scored.

Fresh face on the mound

Left-hander Robert Gasser made his major league debut for the Brewers as the starting pitcher on Friday night. Gasser, 24, earned International League Pitcher of the Year honors last season when he went 9-1 with a 3.79 ERA in 26 games (25 starts) for Triple-A Nashville. He led all Triple-A pitchers in strikeouts last season (166).

...continued

swipe to next page