(TSX / STATS) — MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers’ offense still has yet to regain its first-half form.
But on Tuesday night, the Brewers’ bats mustered just enough to back up Jimmy Nelson, who struck out seven in a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.
The Brewers came into the game hitless in their last 31 at-bats with runners in scoring position and after putting two on in the first against Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez (7-9), Ryan Braun extended the streak to 32 with a groundout to second that still drove in Eric Sogard and gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead.
Travis Shaw added to the futility with a strikeout before Domingo Santana finally snapped the skid with an RBI single. Manny Pina followed with a run-scoring double to make it 3-0 and the Brewers sighed with relief.
“You’re facing Carlos Martinez, so you know runs are going to be tough to begin with,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We got him before he settled in, really. He was a little off with command and Sogard drew a walk to start it, and then we got a couple of nice two-out hits. You always think you’re going to need more than that, but Jimmy and our bullpen did a nice job tonight and it held up.”
The joy, though, would be short-lived. Martinez settled down from there and put up zeros over the next four innings, and wrapped up his day by working out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth.
“There were other points in the game when I could have lost focus,” Martinez said through a team translator. “But I said the first inning is over with and I put that behind me, tried to learn from it and not let things get away from me.”
Martinez gave up four hits and walked five while striking out seven.
“He struggled a little bit in the fifth as well, but they were pretty close misses at that point,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “Early on, it was just a timing issue. We’re going to have to keep making adjustments until he’s sharp coming out of the gate.”
Nelson (9-5) had never beaten St. Louis in his five big league seasons and was 0-1 with a 5.74 ERA in two starts against the Cardinals this season. But he was in a groove Tuesday, holding them to two runs on six hits with only one walk while striking out seven over six innings.
“He pitched very well tonight, and they gave him some good at-bats, I thought,” Counsell said. “I thought he was very effective. Both runs he gave up, to be they had to work to get them (with) two-out hits. He did a nice job.”
Nelson retired his first six batters in order then ran into trouble in the third when Kolten Wong reached on a leadoff single. Randal Grichuk followed with a double to left center but after Orlando Arcia made a perfectly executed of Ryan Braun’s throw and got the ball to the catcher Pina just in time to put the tag on Wong.
“I wasn’t even backing up home because I thought we had no shot,” Nelson said. “I was backing up third. That really took me by surprise. Manny did a good job of holding on to the ball right there. That was impressive. That definitely helped in a one-run game. It was huge.”
St. Louis finally got on the board in the fourth inning, cutting the deficit to 3-1 on an RBI single by Yadier Molina. Tommy Pham got the Cardinals within a run when his single plated Wong in the fifth.
But Anthony Swarzak stranded the tying run at first by striking out three straight batters on 12 total pitches and Corey Knebel worked around a one-out single for his 19th save.
“I thought we played well defensively and the bullpen did a great job,” Nelson said. “It was an all-around good win.”
NOTES: The Brewers recalled OF Keon Broxton from Triple-A Colorado Springs and designated OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis for assignment. … MIlwaukee also sent down RHP Paolo Espino, clearing a roster spot to add RHP Jeremy Jeffress, acquired by the Brewers on Monday from Texas on Wednesday. … St. Louis activated OF Stephen Piscotty (right groin strain) from the 10-day disabled list and optioned OF Harrison Bader to Triple-A Memphis. … Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said RHP Adam Wainwright (mid-back tightness) threw on flat ground Tuesday with no issue but RHP Luke Weaver (0-1, 4.50 ERA) will start Wednesday. Weaver will face Brewers LHP Brent Suter (2-1, 2.40) … RHP Matt Garza is expected to come off the 10-day disabled list and start the series finale Thursday, manager Craig Counsell said.
Photo credit – Morry Gash / Associated Press / Milwaukee, WI