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 Jackson allowed three home runs to Casey McGehee and gave up all
10 runs -- including eight earned -- in St. Louis' 10-5 loss to the
Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday to fall further behind in the NL
Central race.
“We're playing 20 in a row,'' Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.
“We needed to get as deep in his allotment today as he could. He
took it for us. We appreciate it.''
The Cardinals couldn't salvage a series victory. Rafael Furcal hit a
three-run homer and drove in four runs off Randy Wolf (8-8) in his
fourth game since being acquired Sunday in a trade with the Dodgers,
but McGehee kept hitting homers to put the Brewers 3˝ games up in
the division.
“He hit some that were pretty good. Some that weren't. It was just
one of those days,'' Jackson said.
Jackson allowed 14 hits over seven innings of extended work because
of St. Louis' worn-down bullpen following an 11-inning win on
Tuesday.
“I don't mind,'' Jackson said of his 118-pitch outing. “Some up,
some over the plate, a little bit of everything. Then you do make a
good pitch and they find a hole, it's just one of those games where
anything that could go their way did.''
David Freese singled in a run to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead in the
first. Corey Hart homered to start the bottom of the inning and
McGehee hit a two-out, two-run home run to make it 3-1.
Furcal's three-run homer -- his first in a Cardinals uniform -- gave
St. Louis a 4-3 lead in the second, but McGehee answered again with
another two-run homer in the third to put Milwaukee ahead for good,
5-4. McGehee's second homer was hit so hard that left fielder Matt
Holliday never moved to try and chase it.
The Brewers pulled away from there, improving to a majors-best 41-15
at home this season.
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina cost St. Louis two unearned runs.
Ryan Braun scored on a passed ball in the fifth and George Kottaras
scored from third to make it 9-5 after Molina threw a ball into
center field trying to catch Hart stealing in the sixth.
McGehee followed with a solo shot in the seventh for the final
margin and came out for a curtain call. The third baseman appears to
be breaking out of his season-long slump. He's hitting .351 with 12
RBIs over his last 15 games to lift his batting average from .221 to
.240.
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It was a heated series throughout and could be a prelude of
things to come -- the teams square off nine more times this
season with a three-game matchup beginning Tuesday in St. Louis.
Milwaukee got the upper hand in this one and improved to 6-3
against the Cardinals so far this season.
“They beat us,'' La Russa said. “They pitched better. They
played better.''
Milwaukee won Monday's opener 6-2 and the Cardinals complained
about the LED ribbon scoreboards around Miller Park giving the
home team an unfair lighting advantage. The Cardinals took
Tuesday's game 8-7 in 11 after bean ball warnings were issued to
both benches in the seventh. Furcal saved the game with a catch
in the ninth, Molina confronted umpire Rob Drake and was ejected
in the 10th and Lance Berkman won it with a two-out hit in the
11th.
Molina and the Cardinals had not heard what discipline the
All-Star catcher might receive for his actions with Drake.
“I'm just waiting for what they decide. We have to wait on what
they decide on. After that, I move on,'' Molina said. “Most of
the time, I'm nice and easy. I'm low key. I'm not that guy.''
Albert Pujols played after being hit by a pitch on Tuesday night
near where he broke his left wrist earlier this season. He
finished 0 for 5 with two strikeouts.
“He'll never admit to anything. It is what it is,'' La Russa
said. “I'm sure he's sore. No excuses.''
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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