Cards' Carpenter belts 11th-inning homer to beat Brewers

[April 11, 2018]  Matt Carpenter cracked a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning Tuesday night as the St. Louis Cardinals outlasted the visiting Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 at Busch Stadium.

Paul DeJong led off with an infield single against J.J. Hoover (0-1) before Carpenter pulled a 1-1 curveball just over the wall in right for his second homer of the season and his third career walk-off blast.

Dominic Leone (1-2) pitched a clean inning for the victory as St. Louis (5-6) twice rallied to get itself in position to win before finally ending the 4-hour, 2-minute marathon.

Each team scored a run in the 10th on a two-out RBI single. Orlando Arcia put the Brewers ahead in their half of the inning, but Greg Garcia answered back with a looper into right that scored Yairo Munoz.

St. Louis forced extra innings with a little help from Milwaukee. Cardinals pinch hitter Tommy Pham drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the ninth and advanced to second on Garcia's sacrifice bunt. Jacob Barnes relieved Taylor Williams and threw two wild pitches in a three-pitch span to score Pham with the tying run.

Milwaukee took the lead in its half of the ninth with a two-out rally. Eric Thames doubled into the right field corner and scored when Domingo Santana fought off a high, inside 0-2 fastball from Bud Norris and lined it into left for an RBI single.

Milwaukee initiated scoring on the game's fourth pitch. Thames jumped on a meaty changeup and drilled it 411 feet into the bleachers in right field for his fourth homer of the year.

Cardinals first baseman Matt Carpenter (13) celebrates after hitting a walk off two run home run off of Milwaukee Brewers relief pitcher J.J. Hoover (not pictured) during the eleventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

That was all the Brewers got off Carlos Martinez, who after tossing 8 1/3 shutout innings Wednesday night in Milwaukee pitched six more solid innings Tuesday. He got a no-decision in the rematch after allowing six hits, walking two and fanning four.

Brewers lefty Brent Suter outdueled Martinez over the first five innings, not allowing a hit until Kolten Wong led off the fifth with a bunt single. Suter finally hit a bit of a roadblock in the sixth, and St. Louis tied the game as reliever Oliver Drake issued a four-pitch walk to Munoz with the bases loaded.

Suter permitted four hits and a run in 5 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out two.

--Field Level Media

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