Moustakas, Grandal homer as Milwaukee pulls off big victory
ST. LOUIS – It was a game the Milwaukee Brewers had to have, and they knew it wouldn't come easy.
Facing the high-flying St. Louis Cardinals and their ace, Jack Flaherty, the Brewers got big home runs from Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal and pulled out a big 5-2 victory Saturday night at Busch Stadium.
The win assured the first-place Cardinals would not sweep the threegame series, which could have been disastrous for the Brewers. They pulled within four games in the NL Central, still a long shot in that race but also remained just one game behind the Chicago Cubs for the second wild-card berth, with 14 games remaining.
With one down in the bottom of the second, Brewers starter Jordan Lyles fell behind in the count, 3-1, to Tommy Edman, with home plate umpire Todd Tichenor squeezing the strike zone. Lyles came back with a fastball that Edman lined out to right for his eighth home run and a 1-0 lead.
Harrison Bader followed with a
single to right and was bunted to second by Flaherty. Bader stole third base and continued home with a gift run when Grandal's throw sailed into left field.
After Trent Grisham led off the game with a single, Grandal grounded into a double play, beginning a string of eight consecutive hitters retired by Flaherty. Grisham ended that spell with a leadoff single in the fourth and was on base with one down when Moustakas jumped on a first-pitch fastball and knocked it out to right for a game-tying, two-run homer, his 34th of the season.
That homer put the Brewers on the board for the first time in the series and ended Flaherty's streak of 21 consecutive scoreless innings, longest active streak in the majors. The two-run shot also matched the number of runs Flaherty had allowed in his previous 56 innings (0.32 ERA).
It stayed 2-2 until the sixth, when the Brewers pushed across a run to take the lead. With one down, Grandal drew his 98th walk of the season, Moustakas stroked a single through the left side and Ryan Braun walked to load the bases.
When Eric Thames grounded into a force at second, Grandal scooted home to make it a 3-2 game.
Lyles exited after six innings, become the first Brewers starter to go that far into a game since he did so against Houston on Sept. 3, 11 games earlier. He limited the Cardinals to six hits and one earned run while walking none – a key to his performance – and striking out four.
Grandal continued his late-season power surge in the eighth with a tworun homer off lefty reliever Tyler Webb, who walked Grisham to open the inning. It was the seventh homer in 17 games for Grandal, who went nearly two months in July and August with only one.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Woodruff throws final bullpen: Right-hander Brandon Woodruff threw 25 pitches in his final scheduled bullpen session before returning from an oblique injury suffered in late July. If Woodruff has no ill effects Sunday, the Brewers will plan a day for him to return to action, though it has not been decided if it will be in a starting role or out of the bullpen. “I think we'll make a decision (Sunday) night,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Right now, nothing has changed. The less games we have, the more likely will start shifting things around. Woody just needs to be on the mound as much as he can right now because he missed so much time throwing.”
Saladino scratched in Biloxi: The Brewers assigned utility player Tyler Saladino to Class AA Biloxi to play in Game 4 of the Southern League championship series against Jackson, with the plan to remain there for the decisive fifth game if the Shuckers stay alive. Saladino had been rehabbing a shoulder injury at the Brewers' training facility in Phoenix. But he was scratched from Biloxi's lineup before the game with shoulder tightness, so it remains to be seen if he'll still show up in Milwaukee at some point. “We're testing his health,” Counsell said before learning of Saladino being scratched. “With not having Keston (Hiura) back yet (from a hamstring strain) and with any other injuries that could pop up over the last two weeks, there is a spot for him.”
Nelson's struggles continue: Jimmy Nelson has been unable to find any traction at the big-league level in his return from two years of shoulder and elbow miseries. Entering the game in the sixth inning with St. Louis leading, 6-0, Nelson surrendered a two-run single to the first hitter he faced, Kolten Wong, and a three-run homer to the next hitter, Paul Goldschmidt. This is the way it has gone with the Brewers for Nelson, who has a 8.50 ERA in seven outings (three starts). “We're probably not going to get the opportunities to get any answers,” Counsell said. “We're going to probably go into the offseason with a smaller sample than we wanted. Jimmy just needs to pitch and log innings and get farther away from the injury. That's started to happen. At the big-league level, he just hasn't gotten consistent mound time to get anything going. We have guys ahead of him right now.”
Pomeranz continues whiffing 'em: Veteran left-hander Drew Pomeranz continues to be a strikeout sensation out of the Brewers' bullpen. He recorded one out in the seventh and another in the eighth, both via strikeouts, giving him 32 in 19 1/3 innings (14.9 per nine innings).
RECORD
This year: 79-69 Last year: 85-63
COMING UP
Sunday: Brewers at Cardinals, 1:15 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Chase Anderson (6-4, 4.57) vs. St. Louis RHP Michael Wacha (6-7, 4.97). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: FM-94.5.