Tommy Pham hit two, two-run homers, tripled and drove in four runs to help the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on Wednesday night. St. Louis also get help from the Cubs, who beat the Pirates in 12 innings, increasing the Central lead to four games.
Pham’s two-run shots came in the second and the fourth off Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta (5-9). It was the rookie’s third and fourth home runs of the season and first multi-homer game of his career.
“I didn’t try to do too much today,” the 27-year-old left fielder said. “I went into the game with the mindset of have some good at bats.”
Matt Carpenter also homered, leading off the third inning with his team best 22nd of the year. It was also his team best 74th RBI.
The Cardinals built a quick 5-0 lead, only to see it cut to one when Jaime Garcia allowed four runs in the bottom of the fourth. The big inning was highlighted by a three-run homer from Martin Maldonado. Garcia went on to pitch 6.1 innings, while Seth Maness and Jonathan Broxton held the Brewers the rest of the way until the ninth, when Trevor Rosenthal closed for the 45th time this season.
Maness stranded the tying run at third in the seventh after Garcia gave up a one-out double.