Cardinals 3, Brewers 2: Yadier Molina homers twice as St. Louis rebounds from tough loss

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is greeted by shortstop Yairo Munoz after Molina hit a 2-run home run in the sixth inning against the Brewers at Miller Park.

One day after Jesus Aguilar proved to be a one-man wrecking crew for the Milwaukee Brewers, Yadier Molina returned the favor for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Molina drove in all of his team's runs with two homers as the Cardinals bounced back from a discouraging loss the previous evening with a 3-2 victory Saturday afternoon at Miller Park.

After getting no-hit into the seventh inning Friday night, the Brewers struck for two first-inning runs against right-hander Miles Mikolas. With the bases loaded and one down, the man of the hour, Aguilar, sent a drive to deep right that easily scored Christian Yelich from third.

It was Aguilar's two homers, including his walk-off shot in the ninth, that gave the Brewers a 2-1 victory Friday night after St. Louis' Jack Flaherty took a no-hitter into the seventh.

BOX SCORE:Cardinals 3, Brewers 2

ANALYAIS:Brewers kept pushing but couldn't come up with big hit

HAUDRICOURT:Numbers tell story of Brewers' offensive ups and downs

MLB:Live scoreboard, box scores, standings, statistics

Brad Miller, called up earlier in the day from Class AAA Colorado Springs, made his first at-bat a successful one by dunking a single into shallow left-center to score Lorenzo Cain and make it 2-0.

The Cardinals got one of those runs right back when Molina led off the second inning by sending a 3-1 fastball from Chase Anderson out to right-center for his 10th homer of the season. It was a battle after that for Anderson to keep St. Louis off the board during his five-inning stint.

Anderson issued a pair of two-out walks in the third but struck out Molina for his third whiff of the inning. He yielded a one-out walk to Matt Carpenter in the fifth and departed after retiring José Martinez on a fly to deep right to end the inning.

Jeremy Jeffress took over in the sixth with a 2-1 lead and the Cardinals quickly struck to go on top.

After Manny Piña led off the Brewers second with a single, Mikolas settled into a rhythm and started mowing down the Brewers. He retired 15 in a row before Miller drew a one-out walk in the seventh.

Hernán Pérez followed with what should have been a double-play grounder but second baseman Jedd Gyorko threw the ball away to first, allowing Pérez to go to second. Perez stole third, putting the tying run 90 feet away, but Piña grounded out to second and it remained a 3-2 game.

The Brewers had the man they wanted at the plate in the eighth when they loaded the bases with two down, in large part to Yelich and Travis Shaw being hit by pitches. But Aguilar grounded out to short against Sam Tuivailala and that threat was extinguished.

FIVE TAKEAWAYS

CAIN LEAVES WITH GROIN TIGHTNESS: It’s been a tough series physically for Brewers centerfielder Lorenzo Cain, who left the game in the fourth inning with groin tightness. Cain exited early Thursday in the series opener with a hamstring cramp, was hit on the elbow by a pitch Friday and again behind the left shoulder in his first at-bat Saturday.

BRAUN STARTS DAY ON BENCH: For the third consecutive game since having a cryotherapy injection in his right thumb, Ryan Braun was out of the lineup until replacing Cain in the fourth. Manager Craig Counsell said: “Ryan is doing fine; he’s doing great. We have guys playing well. He’ll definitely play tomorrow. But if we can give him some time while we’ve got some guys locked in and doing well, I think it’s best for him to get back to 100%. But he feels real good with the thumb and is glad he got it done.”

REMEMBERING DAVEY NELSON: Before the game, a private memorial service was held for Davey Nelson, the Brewers director of alumni and FS Wisconsin analyst who passed away earlier this season. The right-field corner, where FS Wisconsin has an analyst station, named “Nellie’s Corner” with a plaque installed in his memory. Brewers players and coaches have been wearing “Nellie” patches on their uniforms with the symbol of his favorite charity, the Open Arms Home for Children in South Africa.

ANOTHER REHAB START FOR DAVIES: Right-hander Zach Davies left to join Class AAA Colorado Springs for his second rehab start Sunday in Iowa. Davies is recovering from rotator cuff inflammation that put him on the DL for the second time this season. Left-hander Wade Miley, on the 60-day DL with an oblique strain, made his first appearance Friday on rehab assignment with Class AA Biloxi and will remain with that club.

YET ANOTHER DRAFT SIGNING: MLB.com reported that the Brewers signed 6th round pick Drew Rasmussen, a right-hander from Oregon State, for $135,000, below the recommended slot value of $251,700. The Brewers have signed each of their first 10 picks except for first-rounder Brice Turang, a prep shortstop from California, and ninth-rounder Arbert Cipion, a prep outfielder from New Jersey. The Brewers have saved $661,300 in recommended slot values for the other eight and likely will need it to sign Turang, who is believed to be seeking more than the $3,013,600 assigned to the 21st overall pick.

RECORD

This year: 45-31

Last year: 40-36

ATTENDANCE

Saturday: 35,551

This year: 1,306,266 (34,375 avg.)

Last year: 1,076,958 (28,341 avg.)

COMING UP

Sunday: Cardinals at Brewers, 1:10 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Jhoulys Chacín (6-2, 3.18) vs. St. Louis RHP Luke Weaver (3-6, 4.69). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.