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 Mike Fiers delivered it, and the Brewers' worn-down bullpen followed
with three shutout innings to seal a 1-0 win over the St. Louis
Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Lowering his career ERA to 1.45 over 43 1/3 innings against St.
Louis, Fiers (2-5) pitched the first six innings, giving up just
four hits and two walks while fanning six.
He looked nothing like the pitcher who opened the game with a 4.53
ERA for the year, averaging barely over five innings per start.
"The first inning was sluggish, but later, I got a good feel for my
pitches," Fiers said. "I was able to make more quality pitches and
get out of innings."
Fiers rarely touched 90 mph with his fastball, but he had enough
movement to get a spate of harmless flyouts and popups. After a
one-out single by first baseman Mark Reynolds in the second, Fiers
mowed down 12 of the next 13 hitters.
Manager Craig Counsell lifted Fiers after he induced a foulout from
right fielder Jason Heyward to strand two men in the sixth. It was
just the third time in 11 starts that Fiers finished the sixth
inning.
"That was the kind of game we needed from Mike," Counsell said. "He
battled through the first inning and got stuck a bit in the sixth.
But his middle four innings were vintage Mike. Lots of fly balls and
strikeouts."
On the back end, a bullpen that logged an absurd 13 1/3 innings
Sunday in a 7-6, 17-inning win over the Arizona Diamondbacks worked
in and out of trouble over the last three innings as Counsell mixed
and matched.
Jeremy Jeffress extricated himself from a first-and-third, one-out
spot in the eighth with strikeouts of shortstop Jhonny Peralta and
catcher Yadier Molina.
Closer Francisco Rodriguez walked the high wire in the ninth, giving
up a leadoff single to Heyward and a two-out walk to pinch hitter
Peter Bourjos. After nearly picking Heyward off second, Rodriguez
induced a game-ending groundout from second baseman Kolten Wong to
wrap up his ninth save.
"It was a good team win," Fiers said. "It just shows we can play
with these guys."
Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia (1-2) was a tough-luck loser,
permitting just three hits and a run in seven innings with no walks
and four strikeouts. After giving up a two-out RBI single in the
first to center fielder Carlos Gomez, Garcia retired 16 of the next
17 hitters, getting a spate of first- and second-pitch groundouts.
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"Everyone tries to do that -- get quick outs," Garcia said. "They
got a good lineup, but I felt like I did a decent job."
Milwaukee (18-34) earned its second consecutive win after a
seven-game losing streak. Playing its first 1-0 game of the season,
St. Louis (33-18) fell for just the seventh time in 27 home games.
Afterward, the Brewers looked back on a crazy two-day period in
which they survived a marathon of nearly six hours at Miller Park,
made a short flight south and then blanked the team with baseball's
best record.
"Sure, guys were tired, but that's the major league schedule,"
Counsell said. "That was a good win against a good team."
NOTES: Milwaukee activated All-Star C Jonathan Lucroy (fractured
toe) from the 15-day disabled list, and he batted second and went
0-for-4. Lucroy missed 38 games after being struck by a foul ball on
April 20. ... The Brewers optioned C Juan Centeno to Triple-A
Colorado Springs to make room for Lucroy and also added RHP Tyler
Cravy from Colorado Springs. Following Monday night's game, it was
learned that Cravy would start Tuesday night in his major league
debut. ... St. Louis LF Matt Holliday (flu-like symptoms) was back
in the lineup after missing all but four innings of the weekend
series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Holliday went 1-for-3 with a
walk Monday.
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