Brewers: Cards go off early against Tyler Wagner
By Phil Watson
The St. Louis Cardinals jumped all over rookie right-hander Tyler Wagner, scoring four runs in the first inning, and cruised to a 5-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium on Saturday night.
The loss was the 90th of the season for the Brewers (65-90), their first 90-loss campaign since they were 67-94 in 2004. St. Louis (98-57) maintained its three-game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates for the best record in the National League.
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Looking at it from the other direction, the Brewers are tied with the Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics for the fourth-worst record in baseball, seven games ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies, three games up on the Atlanta Braves and 1½ games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds in the shuffle for draft position next June.
Matt Holliday had an RBI double to start the scoring in the first against Wagner (0-1). Jhonny Peralta added an RBI single and Kolten Wong brought in two runs with a single.
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Holliday added another RBI double in the second as Wagner worked four innings, allowing five runs on six hits with four walks and no strikeouts in his second big-league start.
Milwaukee got its lone run in the sixth. Michael Reed, making his major-league debut, led off the inning with a pinch-hit double to left off left-hander Jaime Garcia (10-5). Reed moved up to third on Jean Segura’€™s groundout and scored when Jonathan Lucroy singled to left.
“€œI can’€™t even explain how awesome it was,”€ Reed told MLB.com. “Just walking up to the plate and hearing my name called and hearing the cheers because they announced that it was my debut, it’€™s just a very humbling feeling, and it’€™s exactly what I dreamed of.”
Right-hander Adrian Houser-–one of four prospects acquired from the Houston Astros in July for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers–-later made his debut, working around a hit and a walk in a scoreless eighth inning.
Houser was the 11th player to make his debut with the Brewers this season, breaking a club record set in 1995 and tied in 2003.
“When I first got out there and stepped on the mound, the plate looked like it was 100 feet away,”€ Houser said. “€œEverything just looked so big.”
Wagner pitched in the majors for the first time since an emergency start on May 31 and has now surrendered 10 runs on 15 hits with five walks and two strikeouts in 7.2 innings.
He had a 2.25 ERA and 1.149 WHIP in 152.1 innings at Double-A Biloxi.
Sep 26, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Milwaukee Brewers’ Michael Reed (25) scores on a single by Jonathan Lucroy (not pictured) during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports
“€œHe showed in the minor leagues he’€™s got the stuff, so I don’€™t think you can judge a guy off two starts,”€ catcher Martin Maldonado said. “Especially against that lineup. Especially when you fall behind in the count. It’€™s that way for everybody, unless you’€™re (Jake) Arrieta or (Zack) Greinke.€”
Garcia worked eight innings for the Cardinals, striking out eight and scattering seven hits.
Cesar Jimenez worked a scoreless inning for the Brewers, striking out one in the fifth, and Yhonathan Barrios allowed a hit and struck out four while working the sixth and seventh innings.
Lucroy started at first base and was 3-for-4 and is 5-for-7 since returning from a concussion on Thursday. Maldonado had two hits in three trips. The rest of the positional starters were a combined 0-for-23. Reed and Jason Rogers each had hits in pinch-hitting roles.
Right-hander Tyler Cravy (0-8, 6.21 ERA) gets the ball Sunday at 1:15 p.m. against right-hander John Lackey (13-9, 2.74).
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It will be Cravy’s third start against the Cardinals and his fourth appearance against St. Louis. He has a 4.50 ERA and 1.286 WHIP in 14 innings with 12 strikeouts.
The last time he pitched in St. Louis was in his debut on June 2, allowing a run on four hits in seven innings of a 1-0 loss.
He started Tuesday in Chicago, working four innings and allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts, taking the loss in a 4-0 decision.
Lackey is 5-1 in seven career starts against the Brewers with a 3.38 ERA and 1.146 WHIP in 48 innings, fanning 39. He’s 3-0 in four starts this season against Milwaukee, allowing six runs in 27 innings with 24 strikeouts.
He’€™s won two straight starts, including Tuesday when he allowed a run on nine hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings of a 3-1 victory over the Reds.
Next: Lucroy Ready To Return, Peralta Shut Down