Cardinals rout Brewers with ninth-inning outburst

The Brewers knocked off the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 at Miller Park on Friday night. The ball ricocheted to third baseman Greg Garcia, who threw Villar out at first. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who’d walked to lead off the inning, came around to score from second and slid into home just as Tommy Pham’s throw arrived.

Wacha started and went 6 2/3 innings but left during the seventh frame after being hit in the leg by a line from Jonathan Villar, and Rosenthal recorded just one out in the ninth before leaving with an injury, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.

Yadier Molina homered in the eighth to tie the game at three apiece, while Aledmys Diaz and Matt Holliday also had run-scoring hits. Starting pitcher Jimmy Nelson allowed two runs with six hits over six innings, but does not get credit for the pitching win. It’s the Brewers first walk-off win of the season.

Through three innings Saturday, the Cardinals’ Carlos Martinez had seven strikeouts but he ran his pitch count past 70 in the process. Milwaukee LF Ryan Braun is 5-for-9 with a run scored in his last two games versus St. Louis and 4-for-6 in his career versus Wacha.2.

St. Louis’ success against Milwaukee isn’t limited to this season, either; the Cardinals are 12-0-1 in the last 13 series between the NL Central rivals.

Manager Craig Counsell said Lucroy would start on Sunday. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hernan Perez. The Brewers stole three bases in the inning, including a pair by Jonathan Villar, but left the bases loaded.

After throwing out Garcia on a ground ball leading off the game, Brewers 2B Scooter Gennett had to duck out of the way of a swooping pigeon. Cardinals SS Jhonny Peralta took part it batting practice and appeared as a pinch-hitter Friday night, after missing the last two games with a sore right thumb.

Piscotty had tripled with one out, the drive sailing over the outstretched glove of leaping second baseman Scooter Gennett and sailing almost all the way to the right-center-field wall. He is 0-1 with a 2.61 ERA in two starts against St. Louis this season. Martinez is 2-1 with a 1.08 ERA in five career starts versus Milwaukee.

St. Louis Cardinals’ Michael Wacha, foreground, adjusts his cap as Milwaukee Brewers’ Chris Carter rounds the bases during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 8, 2016, in Milwaukee. He has not played well in last for starts, losing all four with an ERA of 10.91.