The St. Louis Cardinals continue to struggle without Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick in the lineup. The bats were shut down again by Milwaukee pitching while Todd Wellemeyer continued his struggles in an 8-2 loss.
The loss drops the Cardinals two games out of first and into third place in the NL Central. Milwaukee got started right away scoring four runs in the first on Wellemeyer who walked seven in his 5.2 innings of work. He walked five guys in the first two innings and hit a couple of batters.
The Cardinals cut the lead to 4-2 in the sixth, but the Brewers answered with three in the seventh to put the game out of reach, but the Cardinals could have had more. After an Albert Pujols double and walk to Yadier Molina from starter Manny Parra, Nick Stavinoha singled home Pujols with Molina going to third and scoring later on a force out. The Cards had the bases loaded, but Joe Thurston popped up to Bill Hall in foul territory to end the threat.
The Cardinals will make up Friday night’s rain out with the Brewers on Monday, then the Cubs are in town for three with Chris Carpenter scheduled to start Wednesday for the first time since April 14th.