Sometimes silence is deafening. The Cardinals bats went silent in their 1-0 loss to the Brewers. Rookie starter Carlos Villanueva – making just his fourth start – held the Birds to three hits in seven innings while striking out five. The Cardinals only totaled four hits in all.
The Brewers weren’t much better offensively, collecting eight hits until the ninth and final hit ended the game. Geoff Jenkins, who already had a hit in the game, took a Tyler Johnson pitch and sent over the wall in right field for a walk-off home run.
Jeff Suppan started for the Cardinals and pitched seven shutout innings. Josh Hancock and Johnson combined to retire the eighth before Jenkins ended hopes in the ninth.
Villanueva was solid on the mound for the Brew Crew tossing seven shutout innings. He finished having only allowed three hits and striking out five. Francisco Cordero pitched a perfect top of the ninth for the win.
St. Louis has lost six of their last 11, but a Reds lost to Houston dropped the Redbirds magic number to five.