Brewers Split Series in the Gateway City

Game 1, Brewers 4 -- Cardinals 3
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The Brewers sent Eric Lauer to the mound to square off against Adam Wainwright and the Cards in the first game of the series. Luis Urias got the scoring started right away for the Brewers, knocking a solo shot to left center with one out to put the Brewers up 1-0.

Tyrone Taylor added a two out run scoring single up the middle to continue his hot hitting and give the Brewers a two run first.

Eric Lauer struggled with command most of his start, and gave up two runs to the Cards in the first as well. Christian Yelich knocked in a run in the second inning with an RBI single, but Lauer continued to struggle in the bottom half, allowing two singles and a walk, loading the bases before getting out of the jam, getting Harrison Bader to popout.

With the Brewers holding on to a 3-2 lead going into the third, and both starters pitch counts running up quickly, it looked like we were going to have a high scoring, back and forth game for the series opener, but things settled down after the second. Andrew McCutchen would knock in a run in the fourth with an RBI single, but that would close out the scoring. Lauer worked through the fifth after a rocky first two innings, walking just one more batter for his final three innings of work. While his final stat-line looked pedestrian by the high standards he's set in this early season, it was good to see him settle down after the ugly first two innings where he was really scuffling to throw strikes and work an almost completely clean three innings through the fifth.

The bullpen held things down until the ninth when Josh Hader, freshly returned from family leave came on to nail down the save. Hader uncharacteristically walked a batter and allowed a single, but ultimately worked through the ninth for the save and the series opening win. Eric Lauer is now 5-1 on the season, and Hader is 16 of 16 in save opportunities.

Game 2, Cardinals 4 -- Brewers 2
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In game two of the series, Brandon Woodruff started, going after his sixth win of the season.  The Brewers were getting on base early and often, getting five hits and drawing four walks off of Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson, but failed to cash in any of their early run scoring opportunities. The Crew loaded the bases with one out in the third inning, followed by an inning ending double play by Andrew McCutchen. In the fifth inning, the Brewers had the bases juiced with two outs, and McCutchen again grounded out to end the threat. 

On the other side of things, Brandon Woodruff was cruising along until a two run home run by Paul Goldschmidt in the third put the Cardinals on the board. Throwing warmups in the bottom of the fifth, Woodruff tweaked his ankle, and came out of the game. He gave up just two hits and a walk, one hit being the homerun to Goldschmidt. Woodruff pitched well, so the hope is that the ankle won't keep him out long. 

Luis Perdomo again pitched well in relief, going two scoreless and striking out a pair, and lowering his E.R.A to 1.74 on the season. Brent Suter pitched the seventh and eighth inning, giving up a pair of runs, putting the Brewers down 4-0. 

The Brewers mounted a rally in the ninth. Keston Hiura socked a two run homer to dead center field to pull the Brewers within a pair, before Mike Brosseau and Kolten Wong were retired to end the threat. Woodruff's record dropped to 5-3 with the loss.

Game 3, Cardinals 8 -- Brewers 3
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Adrian Houser just didn't pitch well today for the Brewers. In four innings, he surrendered nine hits and eight runs, five of them being earned. His defense didn't help him out, but Houser wasn't sharp today. The Cards jumped on Houser for a run in the first, four in the third, and three in the third, with Paul Goldschmidt homering for the third time in three days. 

After Houser fought to get through four innings, Hoby Milner, Trevor Kelly, and Migael Sanchez finished the back half of the game scoreless, providing a bright spot for the bullpen. The Brewers offense came alive late in the game, with a solo home run by Keston Hiura, his second home run in as many days, and a two run shot by Victor Caratini in the ninth. In the end, it mostly served to make the final look "not quite as bad", but it's good to see Hiura's bat heating up and providing some serious pop. Houser's record drops to 3-5 on the season after taking the loss today.

Game 4, Brewers 8 - Cardinals 0
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The Brewers and Corbin Burnes repaid the pounding from the day before with one of their own in the series finale. Burnes was absolutely filthy early, striking out six of the first nine batters, and not allowing a runner on base in the first three innings. 

Burnes finally allowed a basehit and a walk in the fourth, but snuffed the rally out, and allowed one more base hit in the sixth. On the day, Burnes struck out eleven in seven innings, allowing just two hits and a walk. 

The Brewers offense helped Burnes out in a big way today, putting eight runs on the board. Omar Narvaez started it out with an RBI double in the second inning, plating Tyrone Taylor. Narvaez had a day, going 3-3, with a double, a triple, a walk, and raising his OPS for the season to a healthy .801. 

With the Crew hanging on to a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning, the Brewers put a pair of men on base, when Jace Peterson blew the game open.

At 4-0, with Burnes on the mound, the Brewers looked like they were in pretty good shape. But the scoring wasn't over. Rowdy Tellez golfed a low inside pitch for his team leading tenth home run of the year.

Lorenzo Cain added an infield RBI single in the sixth to make it 6-0 Brewers. On the day, Lorenzo had 3 hits and raised his OPS to .523. Cain's batted ball metrics this season backs up that he hasn't been hitting well. Zero barreled balls, career lows in hard hit percentage and an OPS that had been hovering around the .440 mark for most of the first quarter of the season. With that being said, lets take a look at how the scoring was wrapped up in the four game set today.

With the win, Corbin Burnes ups his record to 3-2. WIth the split, the Brewers maintain their 3 1/2 game cushion on the second place Cardinals. After three games in San Diego and four in St. Louis, the Brewers are standing at 4-3 on the road trip, with four games remaining in Chicago against the Cubs.