The Milwaukee Brewers held serve in game one of the NLCS by beating the Cardinals in game one 9-6 at Miller Park. The team with the best home record in baseball needed a six-run inning to pull away.
Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Jaime Garcia to give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead. David Freese then hit a three-run blast to right center off Brewers starter Zack Greinke to give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead. St. Louis tacked on another run in the fifth, but in the bottom half of that inning, Garcia lost the lead.
Braun added a two-run double during a six-run, six-hit outburst. Fielder hit a two-run homer and chased Garcia. Then, former Royal Yuniesky Betancourt added a two-run homer off Octavio Dotel.
The Cardinals made it 8-6 in the seventh, when Albert Pujols grounded into a double play with runners on first and third and no outs. The Brewers traded the outs for a run. Milwaukee added a run in the bottom of the seventh and Francisco Rodriquez and John Axford came on for the final two innings to shut down the Cardinals striking out four of the final six.
Game two is Monday with former Missouri State Bear Shaun Marcum facing Edwin Jackson of the Cardinals.
