Tyler Cravy / Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
If Tyler Cravy was nervous about his major league pitching debut, he certainly didn’t show it. The Brewers rookie held the St. Louis Cardinals to a run on four hits while walking two and striking out six in seven innings, unfortunately he got no offensive support in a 1-0 loss at Busch Stadium.
Cravy (0-1) was outdueled by Cardinal Lance Lynn, who held the Brewers scoreless for 7 2/3 innings.
Cravy entered the game with a 5-4 record and a 4.04 earned run average in nine starts at Class AAA Colorado Springs. But he had wins in his last three starts.
The Cardinals got their run in the second when Randal Grichuk doubled and scored on former Brewer Mark Reynolds’ two out single. It snapped a string of 19-scoreless innings by the Brewers pitching staff.
Cravy could have worked longer had the Brewers been playing with a lead. Instead, he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 8th inning.
The Brewers best scoring chance came in the 9th inning when they had runners at first and third with only one out. That’s when Trevor Rosenthal got Aramis Ramirez to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.
The Brewers have managed to win 2 of their last 3 games, despite scoring just two runs over their last 28 innings.
The Brewers send Jimmy Nelson (2-5, 3.90 ERA) to the mound in this afternoon’s finale. The Cardinals will go with John Lackey (3-3, 2.83 ERA).
AUDIO: Craig Counsell on Tyler Cravy :11
AUDIO: Tyler Cravy on his outing :08
AUDIO: Craig Counsell on another struggling night at the plate :16