Milwaukee Brewers (L to R) Hernan Perez, Keon Braxton and Domingo Santana celebrate their 6-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis on June 15, 2017. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
It’s June 16 and the Milwaukee Brewers are still in first place atop the National League Central.
Eric Thames broke a 4-4 tie in the ninth with a two-run home run with two outs to help the Brewers pull out a 6-4 win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. After the Brewers lost the first game of a doubleheader on Monday, they won three straight, taking three of four in the series.
The Cardinals scored twice in the first inning off of Brewers starter Zach Davies, picking up five hits and sending Davies pitch count (34) up the charts from the beginning. A pair of nice defensive plays by Keon Broxton and Eric Sogard prevented the Cardinals from doing more damage.
The Brewers got those two runs back in the second when Broxton clubbed a 489 foot home run, the longest home run in the new Busch Stadium, which opened in 2006.
The Brewers bullpen did the job, throwing four hitless and scoreless innings. With Corey Knebel off limits, Oliver Drake pitched the ninth, striking out a pair and collecting his first save of the season.
The Brewers improved to 36-32 and have a 2 1/2 game lead on the Chicago Cubs in the Central Division. They’ll return to Milwaukee to open a weekend series against the San Diego Padres.
Junior Guerra (1-1, 2.45) pitches for the Brewers. Miguel Diaz (1-1, 6.92) will go for the Brewers. Diaz is making his second appearance against the Brewers this season. Diaz was pitching for the Brewers’ Class A affiliate Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at this time last year.
AUDIO: Mike Reeves recaps the Brewers 6-4 win :33
AUDIO: Craig Counsell on taking 3 of 4 from the Cardinals :13
AUDIO: Keon Broxton asked if he can remember hitting a ball any better than his long HR :15