Brewers 8, Cardinals 3: Offensive surge continues as Brewers move to 7-1 on home stand

The Milwaukee Brewers' bats continued to be as hot as the Memorial Day weekend weather.

Continuing to get contributions throughout the lineup, the surging Brewers thumped the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-3, Monday afternoon in the opener of their three-game series at Miller Park, packed with a sellout crowd of 42,867.

It was the fourth consecutive victory for the Brewers, who scored 37 runs over the four-day weekend. They are 7-1 with two games remaining on their longest home stand of the season, pushing their record to a season-best 15 games over .500 (35-20).

The first-place Brewers boosted their lead in the NL Central to 4 ½ games over Chicago, their largest margin of the year.

BOX SCORE:Brewers 8, Cardinals 3

ANALYSIS:Everything going Brewers' way these days

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MLB:Live scoreboard, box scorers, standings, statistics

The Brewers struck first with a run off St. Louis starter Luke Weaver in the second inning. Ryan Braun got his big day (3 for 3, walk, three runs scored) started with an opposite-field double to right with one down and scored on Manny Piña’s two-out single up the middle.

The count grew to 2-0 in the third when Christian Yelich continued his blazing home stand with a home run to right, his sixth of the season. Weaver put a 2-0 changeup in a bad place and Yelich did not miss it.

The Cardinals tried what normally is a sound strategic move in the bottom of the fifth, pitching around No. 8 hitter Tyler Saladino, walking him with two outs to load the bases to face starter Brent Suter. But Suter is not an automatic out as with many pitchers. After all, he does have a home run off Cleveland ace Corey Kluber.

Suter put a great at-bat on Weaver, winning a nine-pitch battle by grounding a double past first baseman José Martinez, who got some leather on the ball. Two runs came around to score but Saladino was thrown out trying to score from first, leaving the Brewers with a 4-0 lead.

With a couple of swings in the fifth, the Cardinals made it a one-run game. Harrison Bader led off with a single and Yairo Muñoz followed with a home run to left, his first in the major leagues. Suter retired the next two hitters but Matt Carpenter, who bunted against the shift for a hit in his previous at-bat, lined a homer to right and suddenly it was 4-3.

The Brewers got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Travis Shaw kept a rally alive with a two-out single and Braun came through with his third hit, an RBI single. The big blow came in seventh when Jonathan Villar crushed a two-out, three-run homer to left off lefty Brett Cecil, boosting the lead to 8-3 and prompting reliever Josh Hader, who had been warming up, to take a seat in the pen.

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

NELSON, MILEY DO SOME THROWING: Right-hander Jimmy Nelson, who took a recent break from his throwing program to reboot a bit while recovering from major shoulder surgery, played some catch in the outfield Monday morning. Nelson took 10 days off after his surgeon, Neal ElAttrache, assured him the shoulder is healing as expected. “We’ll go pretty slow with (Nelson),” manager Craig Counsell said. “He does have a foundation of throwing; we’re not starting from scratch. But we’ll be cognizant of how he’s feeling.” Lefty Wade Miley also played catch for the first time since going on the DL with a right oblique injury on May 9. Miley is on the 60-day DL, so he is just getting started with his program.

YELICH STAYS ON A TEAR: There are many hot hitters in the Brewers’ lineup at present but none more so than outfielder Christian Yelich. His home run boosted his hitting streak to six games, during which he is batting .480 (12 for 25) with nine runs, two doubles, a triple, homer, five RBI and three walks.

ILLNESS SLOWS FRANKLIN’S RECOVERY: Utility infielder Nick Franklin, who went on the DL with a quadriceps strain after playing only one game on May 8, had his rehab program put on hold in Phoenix by illness. “He’s not quite at the game stage but he’s not far away, either,” Counsell said. “He’s been sick all weekend.”

QUIRKS OF THE SCHEDULE: The Brewers have a 4 ½ game lead over Chicago and five-game lead over St. Louis but the clubs are closer in the loss column. The Brewers have 20 losses, the Cubs have 22 and the Cards have 23. The Brewers have played four more games than St. Louis and five more than Chicago, and not solely because of rainouts. Beginning Thursday, the Brewers have three off days over an eight-day period. “You always welcome off days,” Counsell. “The spot where there are no off days, you start to think ahead a little bit.”

STRICKER DELIVERS HIS PITCH:  Professional golfer Steve Stricker threw out the ceremonial first pitch and talked up the upcoming American Family Insurance Championship on the Champions Tour, to be played in his hometown of Madison on June 22-24. While performing well on that circuit as well as the regular PGA Tour, Stricker said he tries to follow the Brewers from afar. “They’ve gotten off to a great start this year, so there’s a lot of excitement, I’m sure, for the Milwaukee fans. It’s good to see them playing well.” Stricker said he had not thrown a baseball “for quite some time” but did just fine in his pre-game toss.

RECORD

This year: 35-20

Last year: 29-26

ATTENDANCE

Monday: 42,867 (third sellout)

This year: 892,241 (33,045 avg.)

Last year: 705,900 (28,236 avg.)

COMING UP

Tuesday: Brewers vs. Cardinals, 6:40 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Zach Davies (2-4, 4.74) vs. St. Louis RHP Michael Wacha (5-1, 2.88). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.