Kyle Harrison has another start cut short, this time by a sore elbow
After a second straight abbreviated start, Kyle Harrison divulged he’s been dealing with some soreness in his left elbow he considers minor.
- The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 8-4, winning four out of five games in the series.
- Jake Bauers and Brice Turang both hit home runs for the Brewers.
- Pitcher Logan Henderson earned the win after coming off the injured list.
- The Brewers improved to 6-2 on their road trip and hold first place in the NL Central.
ST. LOUIS – By every measure, the Milwaukee Brewers’ second and final trip to Busch Stadium this season was an unqualified success.
Jake Bauers and Brice Turang each homered and Logan Henderson came off the injured list to provide a 5 ⅓-inning start in an 8-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night, July 9.
It was the fourth triumph in the teams’ five meetings in a series defined by Milwaukee’s sweep of a July 7 doubleheader. It marked only the second time in franchise history the Brewers won four games in a series in St. Louis and the first time since July 21-24, 2008.
Bauers, Turang, Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick and Cooper Pratt each recorded two-hit games for the Brewers, who improved to 6-2 on their current road trip with three more games this weekend at Pittsburgh heading into the all-star break.
Aaron Ashby pulls off a major escape act
Aaron Ashby made things extremely hard on himself when by allowing an infield single to JJ Wetherholt and then walking Iván Herrera to begin the St. Louis eighth.
But he managed to avert tragedy by getting Alec Burleson to ground out, Jordan Walker to strike out and Lars Nootbaar to pop out.
Then, Chourio opened the ninth with a double to right and he came in to score two batters later on a sacrifice fly to right by William Contreras that capped the scoring.
Brice Turang gets a run back quickly
With the crowd suddenly back into the game, Turang did his part to quiet things down a little bit when he began the seventh with a homer to straightaway center off Luis Gastelum.
That made it 7-4 and gave Turang his 13th long ball of the season.
The momentum shifts in the sixth
Singles by Frelick and Pratt to start the sixth went to waste – an unfortunate turn of events considering what happened in the bottom of the frame.
Henderson plunked leadoff man Wetherholt and then two batters later walked Burleson, leading manager Pat Murphy to call upon Chad Patrick for the righty-righty matchup against Walker.
A sensible call in theory, but Patrick ultimately left a fastball out over the plate that the St. Louis cleanup hitter hammered into Big Mac Land in left field to pull the Cardinals to within 6-4.
Henderson (3-1) allowed three hits, three runs and a walk with four strikeouts over 5 ⅓ innings and 76 pitches. It was his first start since May 22.
The three earned runs allowed were the most Henderson had allowed in his 11 career starts.
Right-hander Garrett Stallings was optioned to Class AAA Nashville prior to the game to clear space for Henderson on the 26-man roster.
Cardinals get on the board
Burleson doubled with one out in the fourth and two batters later came around to score on a Nootbaar single to get St. Louis on the board.
Brewers break it open in the third inning
Consecutive singles by Garrett Mitchell, Chourio and Turang to open the third made it a 3-0 game.
Turang then stole second which was big to avoid the double play as Contreras followed by grounding out. Then, Bauers ripped a three-run homer into the Cardinals bullpen in right-center to double Milwaukee’s advantage to 6-0.
It was the 17th of the season for Bauers and upped his RBI total to 57 in what’s been a career year to date for him.
Bauers added a walk to his ledger in his fifth-inning plate appearance.
Jake Bauers opens door to a fruitful inning with an amazing slide
Bauers singled with one out in the second and then appeared to be a dead duck at third base on a comebacker to the mound off the bat of Andrew Vaughn.
Pallante threw over to a waiting José Fermín but Bauers planted his foot, sidestepped out of the way and dived into the base safely to the amazement of everybody.
The Brewers didn’t waste his effort, either, as both Frelick and Pratt followed up with run-scoring singles to grab the early 2-0 lead.
What is the Brewers’ record?
59-34, first place in the NL Central.
Brewers probable pitchers and schedule
Brewers at Pirates, July 10, 5:40 p.m.: Brewers RHP Brandon Sproat (3-4, 5.13) vs. Pittburgh RHP Braxton Ashcraft (9-3, 3.24). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Pirates, July 11, 3:05 p.m.: Brewers LHP Shane Drohan (4-2, 2.97) vs. Pittburgh RHP Bubba Chandler (3-8, 4.82). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
Brewers at Pirates, July 12, 11:15 a.m.: Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski (10-4, 1.62) vs. Pittburgh RHP Paul Skenes (7-8, 3.58). TV – Peacock. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.
