Brewers: Khris Davis bashes Brewers past St. Louis
By Phil Watson
Khris Davis had his second two-homer day in four games and the Milwaukee Brewers salvaged the finale of a three-game series at Miller Park with a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
Davis gave the Brewers (48-65) the lead for good with his two-run blast off former Milwaukee right-hander Jonathan Broxton (1-3) in the eighth inning to bail out starter Jimmy Nelson.
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Milwaukee took the lead in the third with a pair of long balls off Cardinals starter John Lackey.
Jean Segura led off the inning with a single, but was thrown out attempting to steal second base on a call the Brewers challenged, to no avail.
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That was unfortunate, because Elian Herrera followed with his fifth home run of the season to put Milwaukee up 1-0.
Shane Peterson later walked and Davis cranked his first shot of the day, a line drive to left-center.
St. Louis (71-40) got a run back in the sixth—the first earned run surrendered by Nelson in 25 innings—on an RBI single by Jason Heyward.
In the seventh, Brandon Moss and Stephen Piscotty started the inning with back-to-back hits and moved up on Tony Cruz’s sacrifice bunt.
After Mark Reynolds was out on a hard comebacker, Nelson got the opportunity to escape the inning against Matt Carpenter.
Nelson evened the count with a backdoor slider on the outside corner and tried to back it up. But this slider hung out over the middle of the plate and Carpenter crushed it into the second deck in right field for a three-run homer and a 4-3 lead for the Cardinals.
“We made a mistake,” pitching coach Rick Kranitz told MLB.com. “But he pitched great today. His timing, his delivery, it’s all right there now. It’s all coming together.
“It’s a process. When you’re going to the next level, [Nelson] has to do that. He has to go out and get [Carpenter] put. He’s that guy for us. He’s going to be the guy we probably lean on to be able to pitch big games. Which he did today. He made a mistake. We talked about it and we’d probably go about it a little differently next time. That’s OK. You learn from it.”
Nelson gave up four runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in seven innings while taking a no-decision. With a record of 9-9 with a 3.65 ERA on the season, Nelson is still 6-1 with a 2.26 ERA in his last nine outings.
Jason Rogers started the eighth with a pinch-hit single off left-hander Kevin Siegrist and after Logan Schafer entered as a pinch-runner, Shane Peterson sacrificed the runner to second.
Broxton came on and Davis crushed his first delivery over the wall in right.
Aug 9, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Khris Davis (18) is showered with bubble gum by catcher Martin Maldonado (12) after hitting two two run home runs to help beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Davis now has 11 homers for the season—four in the last four days. He also had a two-homer game in Thursday’s win over the San Diego Padres.
“Yeah, I’ve got a little attitude going,” Davis told MLB.com.
Will Smith (5-2) got the win with a perfect eighth inning before Davis’ go-ahead blast, striking out one. Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth in 1-2-3 fashion, striking out one, for his 26th save.
Davis was 8-for-25 (.320) for the week, with a double, four homers and 12 RBI in seven games. For the season, he’s at .242/.327/.462 with 11 homers and 35 RBI in 72 games. He just got his everyday job back when Gerardo Parra was traded to the Baltimore Orioles on July 31.
Aug 9, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Elian Herrera (3) hits a solo home run in the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
As for Davis’ streakiness, manager Craig Counsell understands.
“That’s who he is,” Counsell said. “He’s trying to lengthen those good streaks and shorten those bad streaks. When you get him in those good streaks, he can win games for you. He will win games for you.”
Sidelined by a torn meniscus in late May, Davis returned to find himself behind the red-hot Parra and on the bench.
The Brewers are off on Monday and will open a three-game set against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday. Right-hander Taylor Jungmann (6-3, 2.26 ERA) is scheduled to take the hill against right-hander Dan Haren (7-7, 3.49).
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Jungmann lost his first encounter to the Cubs, allowing three runs—two earned—on seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings at Miller Park on July 31.
He won his last start on Wednesday, allowing two runs on six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts in an 8-5 win over the Padres.
Haren was acquired by Chicago from the Miami Marlins for a pair of minor leaguers on July 31. He is 2-1 in five outings, four starts, against Milwaukee in his career, with a 1.85 ERA and 1.110 WHIP in 24.1 innings, striking out 28.
He lost his last time out against the Brewers in 2014, giving up six runs—three earned—in just three innings while with the Los Angeles Dodgers last Aug. 17.
He took a no-decision in his Cubs debut on Wednesday, working five innings and allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts in a game Chicago lost at Pittsburgh 7-5.
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