Nyjer Morgan sparked a five-run fifth inning by hitting a three-run double off Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter, erasing an early St. Louis lead and giving the Milwaukee Brewers their seventh straight win in a 6-2 final. The loss drops St. Louis 3.5 games behind the Brewers.
Things started out great for the Cardinals, who got a lead off single from recently acquired Rafael Furcal. Matt Holliday followed with a two run homer later in the inning off former Royals’ ace Zack Greinke.
From that point on, Greinke limited the Cardinals to five singles and a walk and retired 11 out of 13 hitters over one stretch.
Carpenter allowed just one infield single through the first four innings, but in the fifth, the Brewers sent 10 batters to plate while scoring five runs. Former Royal Yuniesky Betancourt singled to lead off the fifth and Casey McGehee’s hit-and-run single put runners at the corners.
Jonathan Lucroy hit a chopper over third baseman David Freese to score a run and the Cardinals’ defense failed to cover first or third when Greinke laid down a bunt that loaded the bases.
Corey Hart picked up an RBI single before Morgan hit his bases-clearing double to put Milwaukee up 5-2. The Brewers tacked on a run in the seventh on Ryan Braun’s double off Mitchell Boggs.
This is the first time Carpenter has allowed five earned runs in a game since June 11th, back at Miller Park when Greinke beat him before. Greinke is 7-0 in Milwaukee and the Brewers have the best record at home in baseball at 40-14.