*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
Right after celebrating one milestone, it was time to celebrate once again. Andrew Knizner homered, Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs, and the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday night in Milwaukee.
On Friday night, the Cardinals celebrated as Albert Pujols hit career home runs number 699 and 700 in a 11 run drubbing of the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. The latest win was driven by Knizner and Goldschmit, bringing home 4 of the 6 Cardinal runs, giving the team their 5th win in 10 games.
The Cardinals also celebrated clinching the NL Central Title on Tuesday night as well. They rode momentum and a Hollywood style season to their 5th division title in 10 seasons. They improved their record to 90-65, and await one of the Wild Card teams to face in the Wild Card Round.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of winning the division that "What's more important about all of it is you've got MVP candidates on our corners, you've got Yadi and Waino chasing 325, you've got 700 from Albert, and they never made it about themselves. They always pointed toward winning and taking a step toward a championship. That tells you a lot about the character and the culture of this club."
Goldschmidt got the Cardinals scoring started, scoring Brendan Donovan on a sac fly to make it 1-0 in the first inning. The second inning saw Dylan Carlson scored on a wild pitch, doubling the lead to 2-0. In the 4th inning, Knizner came up and hit a two run home run to center field, making it a 4-0 lead for the Cardinals.
The 5th inning saw the Cardinals lead jump to 5-0, with Goldschmidt singling home Lars Nootbaar. In the top half of the 6th, Juan Yepez singled to left field, scoring Carlson to put the Cardinals ahead 6-0. Rowdy Tellez got the Brewers on the board in the bottom of the 6th with a solo home run to make it a 6-1 game. Garrett Mitchell hit an RBI single in the 7th to make it a 6-2 score.
Cardinals 3rd baseman Nolan Arenado said after the game that "The goal here is to win ballgames, that’s all we talk about and all we think about. I’m thankful for everyone here because everyone contributed, from the veterans to the young guys. We’ve gotten to witness a lot of history along the way this season, but I’m thankful to be a part of my first division championship team."
Getting the win in his start for the Cardinals was Miles Mikolas. He was charged with one run on 4 hits, striking out 9 hitters over 6 innings pitched. Andre Pallante allowed one run while pitching the 7th, and Ryan Helsley threw the final two innings to pick up the win.
Adrian Houser got the start for the Brewers, getting charged with 3 runs on two hits while lasting just 3 1/3 innings. It turned into a bullpen game after that, with Brent Suter, Trevor Gott, Hoby Milner, Taylor Rogers, and Peter Strzelecki pitching out of the bullpen.
Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said that "It doesn’t matter if it’s this field, their field or another field. We just didn’t really play well enough all season to deserve winning the division. You get what you deserve in sports a lot, and we just, for whatever reason, weren’t able to put it all together. I’m not saying we don’t still have a shot. We still have a shot at a Wild Card. We have eight games left and are a few back so we have to try to finish strong. Regroup after a tough one tonight and try and slide in that way. Then you never know what can happen."
Up next, the Cardinals and Brewers wrap up their series on Wednesday night. The Cardinals go for the series win as Jose Quintana takes the mound, while Brandon Woodruff starts for the Brewers as they also look to win the series.
Comments
Post a Comment