St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Mike Leake. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Eric Thames hit a two-run homer in the first and added an RBI double in the second against starter Mike Leake and the Brewers opened up a 6-0 lead after an inning and a half. The Cardinals came up short, losing 7-6 in a game delayed twice by rain, with the delays totaling 1 hour, 50 minutes. The Cardinals have dropped two in a row after a four-game win streak.
Thames entered Wednesday night’s game in a 1-for-15 skid before busting out against Leake, who suffered his fourth loss in a row. Mike Matheny says Leake lacked control early and a good hitting team like Milwaukee made him pay.
The Cardinals answered with four runs in the bottom of the second against Matt Garza who was making his first start after coming off the DL. Jose Martinez tripled in Aledmys Diaz and Yadier Molina and Kolten Wong and Matt Carpenter added RBI doubles.
Milwaukee tacked on an all-important insurance run in the seventh, because in the eighth inning in a steady stream of rain, Diaz hooked his 7th homer of the year down the left field line to close the gap to 7-6.
