The Milwaukee Brewers opened a 10-game home stand with a 7-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park on Thursday night.
Travis Shaw, Eric Thames and Jett Bandy clubbed home runs to push the Brewers league leading total to 32 for the season. The Brewers have hit at least one home run in 12 straight games.
Zach Davies picked up his first win (1-2) of the season, but he needed the offensive help. Davies reached 99 pitches after just 5 1/3 innings. He surrendered three runs in the second on a bases-loaded triple by Kolten Wong and served up Matt Carpenter’s 425-foot homer to right-center in the fifth.
Only 57 of Davies 99 pitches went for strikes as he continued to struggle early.
The Brewers used four relievers, Oliver Drake, Jhan Marinez, Carlos Torres and Jacob Barnes to finish off the Cardinals. One day after Neftali Feliz blew a save opportunity against the Cubs, Barnes finished off the Cardinals to earn a save for the Brewers.
The Brewers improved to 9-8 on the season. They’ll send Wily Peralta (3-0, 2.65) to the mound in game two of the series tonight. The Cardinals go with struggling right-hander Adam Wainwright (0-3, 7.24).