On a Monday night that felt like vintage Cardinals baseball under the lights at Busch Stadium, the Redbirds took care of business against their NL Central rivals, dispatching the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 to open a three-game set.
Kyle Leahy delivered a solid outing. The right-hander went 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out five and walking two. It wasn’t always pretty — the Brewers put traffic on the bases — but Leahy limited the damage and handed the bullpen a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
The offense provided all the support needed, starting with a bottom-of-the-second tally. JJ Wetherholt singled home Masyn Winn for a 1-0 edge. Then came the decisive blow in the fourth. With the bases loaded and Chad Patrick struggling, Iván Herrera ripped a bases-clearing double to center, plating three runs and pushing the lead to 4-0. That swing proved to be the difference — timely hitting when it mattered most.
Milwaukee got one back in the sixth on a Luis Rengifo RBI single off George Soriano. The Cardinals answered with single runs in the seventh (Masyn Winn RBI single) and eighth (Wetherholt RBI single) to make it 6-1. Brice Turang’s two-run homer in the ninth off Gordon Graceffo accounted for the final margin, but the game was decided well before then.
The bullpen performed admirably, with George Soriano, JoJo Romero, Ryne Stanek, and others bridging effectively to Riley O’Brien, who recorded his 10th save by closing out the ninth. The Cardinals rapped out 11 hits, played error-free ball, and went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
This victory improves St. Louis to 21-14 and keeps them in the thick of the division race, while Milwaukee fell to 18-16. The Brewers stranded 12 runners and couldn’t cash in on their opportunities against a Cardinals team showing real resolve at home.
The series continues Tuesday night.
