Brewers manager Craig Counsell: Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Jimmy Nelson surrendered five runs in the first inning on Wednesday and the St. Louis Cardinals went on to knock off the Milwaukee Brewers 7-4 at Busch Stadium.
The first six hitters reached base for the Cardinals in the bottom of the first and the Brewers didn’t get out of the inning until Nelson struck out St. Louis pitcher John Lackey.
Manager Craig Counsell said the five runs didn’t all fall on Nelson’s right arm. A couple of defensive plays would have ended the threat much sooner, but that has been the story of the Brewers season.
AUDIO: Craig Counsell said he expects a better start from Jimmy Nelson :13
The Brewers ended a 19-inning scorless streak when Gerardo Parra clubbed a solo home run in the third. But the Cardinals scored two more times in the fourth to go up 7-1.
The Brewers had 14-hits but left 10 base runners stranded.
The game had a scary moment in the sixth inning, when third baseman Hector Gomez went full speed into the fence down the left field line while trying to catch a pop foul. He went head first into the seats and stayed down for a while, before finally walking off under his own power. Concussion tests came up negative.
The Brewers are off today. They’ll open a 3-game series against Paul Molitor’s Minnesota Twins on Friday night.