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 Three of those, though, came from right fielder Jason Heyward, whose
two-run home run in the 10th inning broke a 1-1 tie and gave the
Cardinals a 3-1 victory over the Brewers in front of announced crowd
of 30,349 at Miller Park.
"I was trying to be aggressive, in the zone," said Heyward, who
extended his hitting streak to six games and is batting .478 during
that stretch. "I was able to lay off a couple pitches and I kind of
got rewarded."
Heyward already doubled twice, walked and reached on a fielder's
choice when he came up in the 10th against Brewers right-hander
Tyler Thornburg, who got off to a bad start in the inning when Matt
Carpenter reached on an error by first baseman Adam Lind.
Left fielder Stephen Piscotty grounded into a force at second to
bring up Heyward. Thornburg (0-2) quickly fell into a 3-0 hole, and
on a 3-1 count, fired a fastball that Heyward sent to right for his
12th home run of the season.
"We were behind Heyward all night," Brewers manager Craig Counsell
said. "I think he was 2-0 on four of the five at-bats. We just fell
behind to a good hitter and you can't fall behind to a hitter like
that all night because he's going to make you pay."
He doubled twice off right-hander Ariel Pena, who went five-plus
innings and gave up just the one run on four hits and three walks
while striking out five in his second career major league start.
"Ariel Pena did an outstanding job," Counsell said. "I was really
happy with the way he performed. He did a nice job, then our bullpen
guys came in and did a nice job. Tonight, it was just difficult to
score. There weren't' a lot of chances for both teams."
Right-hander Carlos Martinez was locked in for the Cardinals,
holding Milwaukee to a run on four hits and two walks while striking
out nine over eight innings.
The only blemish on his line was a solo home run by left fielder
Khris Davis in the fifth, but St. Louis got the run back an inning
later when Heyward picked up his second double, then scored on a
base hit by shortstop Jhonny Peralta.
"Best I've ever seen him throw. I mean, that was no-hit stuff,"
Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "From the first couple of
pitches, he was just so synced up with those legs. It was easy and
the ball was jumping out of his hand. He had a plus-change up, had a
slider that was disappearing. It looked like a couple of those
sinkers were about 97. It was just a very, very good showing of what
he has and what he has the potential to do."
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Milwaukee threatened in the sixth, loading the bases with one out
before Lind lined into a double play at first, then again in the
ninth, when right fielder Ryan Braun drew a one-out walk off
left-hander Kevin Siegrist (7-1) but was left stranded.
"Tonight, it was just difficult to score," Counsell said.
"There weren't a lot of chances for both teams."
Right-hander Trevor Rosenthal worked around a two-out single by
Logan Schafer in the bottom of the 10th to earn his 44th save of the
year.
The victory was the second in a row for St. Louis, which maintained
pace over the Pirates, who closed to within 2 1/2 games of the
division leaders last week, when the Cardinals six of seven.
NOTES: St. Louis activated OF Matt Holliday from the 15-day disabled
list, though he did not play Tuesday night. Holliday has appeared in
just 11 games since June 8, and he landed on the DL on July 29 with
a strained right quadriceps. ... Brewers C Jonathan Lucroy remains
sidelined with post-concussion symptoms. Manager Craig Counsell said
there has not yet been a discussion about shutting Lucroy down for
the final three weeks of the regular season. ... The Brewers brought
a four-game home winning streak into the game Tuesday but have gone
10-25 in their last 35 meetings with the Cardinals at Miller Park.
... St. Louis has won three straight season series against
Milwaukee, and the Cardinals are 9-4 against the Brewers this
season.
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