Lyle Overbay singled in Khris Davis with the go-ahead run in the 11th inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis
Lyle Overbay / UPI-Bill Greenblatt
Cardinals for the second straight night, 5-4. It’s the second straight extra inning win for the Brewers, who beat the Cardinals 5-3 in 12-innings on Monday.
The Brewers improved to a major league best 20-7 with the victory and moved to 11-1 on the road this season.
The Brewers were missing starters Ryan Braun, Jean Segura and Aramis Ramirez who are all out with injuries, and catcher Jonathan Lucroy who was being given the day off. They played the game with just two healthy players on the bench as well.
The winning recipe was more solid pitching and some timely hitting.
Kyle Lohse got off to a shaky start when Yadier Molina continued his success against the Brewers right hander with a three-run homer in the first inning. Molina started the day hitting .563 (9 for 16) with two homers against Lohse.
Lohse settled down after the first inning and pitched six innings, allowing six hits, 1 walk and he struck out 9. Tyler Thornburg (3-0) ended up pitching two innings of relief to earn the victory. Francisco Rodriguez worked the 11th to earn his 13th save in 13 opportunities.
Lohse also helped himself with the bat. He battled through a 7-pitch at bat in the fourth-inning, singling off of Lance Lynn to left with the bases loaded, driving in two. It tied the game 3-3 and was Lohse’s first hit of the season.
Overbay also had an RBI single in the fourth inning Brewers rally to go along with his game winning hit in the 11th. Since Overbay returned after the birth of his son on April 17th, he has hit safely in eight straight games.
With the win, the Brewers clinched their first series win against the Cardinals since taking 2 of 3 in 2012 at Busch Stadium. It broke a string of seven straight series that had gone the way of the Cardinals. The Brewers haven’t swept the Cardinals since 2009.
Francisco Rodriguez
Francisco Rodriguez has tied the Major League record for saves (13) in March/April, a mark he shares with Kazuhiro Sasaki (Mariners-2001).
Today’s pitching matchup
The Brewers will send Matt Garza (1-2, 4.09) to the mound this afternoon against Shelby Miller (2-2, 2.86). First pitch is 12:45pm at Busch Stadium this afternoon.