The St. Louis Cardinals showed plenty of fight against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night, but a late bullpen collapse erased their comeback attempt and sent them to an 8-4 defeat in the opening game of the final regular-season series. St. Louis battled back from an early deficit to tie the game at 4-4 in the seventh inning, only for Milwaukee to explode for four runs in the eighth and take control of the contest. The loss highlighted one of the Cardinals’ biggest recurring problems this season: their inability to consistently protect games once the starting pitcher exits.
The matchup carried an interesting sense of history for St. Louis. There was a time when the Cardinals were the team capable of spoiling Milwaukee’s season, most notably during their memorable 2011 championship run. This time, however, the circumstances were completely different. The Brewers entered the series as a 100-win powerhouse, while the Cardinals were playing out the final weekend of a season that had already shifted toward evaluation and preparation for 2027. Still, St. Louis had an opportunity to finish the campaign on a positive note, and Michael McGreevy initially gave the team a chance to do exactly that.
Milwaukee wasted little time putting pressure on McGreevy. In the bottom of the first inning, Mitchell opened the frame with a single before Brice Turang followed with a double into the left-center-field gap. Mitchell scored on the play, giving the Brewers an early 1-0 advantage. It appeared the inning could be the beginning of a difficult outing for McGreevy, but the young right-hander settled down and prevented Milwaukee from extending its lead. The Cardinals eventually responded in the fourth inning when Ivan Herrera crushed a 93 mph sinker from Robert Gasser over the left-center-field wall. The 393-foot blast tied the game at 1-1 and briefly gave St. Louis momentum.
The Brewers quickly reclaimed the advantage in the bottom of the fourth. McGreevy issued a leadoff walk to Christian Yelich, who moved to third after an Ortiz single. Sal Frelick then grounded into a fielder’s choice, allowing Yelich to score and putting Milwaukee ahead 2-1. McGreevy managed to keep the damage under control for much of the night, but the fifth inning ultimately ended his outing. Turang opened the inning with a double, and after William Contreras moved him to third with a fly ball, Jake Bauers delivered an RBI single to make it 3-1. Yelich then reached on an infield hit, and after another baserunner reached, the bases became loaded. Cardinals manager Oli Marmol decided it was time to end McGreevy’s night and turned to Brycen Mautz.
Mautz immediately found himself in a difficult situation. Jackson Chourio came in as a pinch-hitter for Frelick, and Mautz walked him, forcing home another Milwaukee run and increasing the Brewers’ advantage to 4-1. The inning could have become even more damaging, but Mautz recovered when he fell behind Hamilton 3-1 before battling back to record a strikeout and finally end the threat. Despite the rough fifth inning, McGreevy had managed to keep St. Louis within striking distance, and the Cardinals’ offense would soon give the team another opportunity.
Mautz retired Milwaukee in order in the sixth, and St. Louis responded with a powerful rally in the seventh. Jordan Walker started the comeback by launching a towering 411-foot home run over the center-field wall. The blast cut Milwaukee’s lead to 4-2 and injected life into the Cardinals’ dugout. Leo Bernal followed with a single, keeping the inning alive and putting another runner aboard. Then came one of the biggest swings of the night. Alec Burleson entered as a pinch-hitter for Jose Fermin and crushed a 414-foot home run that struck high off the right-field foul pole. The two-run blast tied the game at 4-4 and completely erased Milwaukee’s advantage.
At that point, the Cardinals appeared to have seized the momentum. The game had gone from a 4-1 Brewers lead to a 4-4 tie in the span of two innings, and St. Louis had a realistic opportunity to steal the opening game of the series. Luis Gastelum did his part in the bottom of the seventh, allowing only a walk while preventing Milwaukee from immediately answering the Cardinals’ comeback. Unfortunately for St. Louis, the eighth inning turned into the decisive disaster.
Gastelum surrendered a leadoff hit to Chourio before being replaced by Justin Bruihl. Bruihl’s entrance did not go according to plan. He hit Hamilton with a pitch, and a defensive mistake on a sacrifice-bunt attempt allowed Mitchell to reach safely and loaded the bases. With Milwaukee suddenly threatening again, Turang delivered a crushing two-run single into left field. The hit restored the Brewers’ lead at 6-4 and shifted the momentum firmly back toward the home team.
The inning became even more painful for the Cardinals when Cade Winquest entered to try to limit the damage. Instead, a costly defensive miscue compounded the problem. Mitchell was caught leaning off second base, but during the ensuing rundown, Winquest’s throw sailed over third base. The error allowed the runners to advance and gave Milwaukee another opportunity with runners in scoring position. William Contreras capitalized with an RBI single to left, extending the lead to 7-4. Bauers then added another run with a sacrifice fly, making it 8-4. What had been a tied game only moments earlier had suddenly become a four-run Milwaukee advantage.
The Cardinals had one final chance in the ninth inning, but Milwaukee closer Trevor Megill quickly shut the door. Bernal opened the inning with a single up the middle, giving St. Louis a small glimmer of hope. Burleson, who had already delivered the game-tying home run earlier, could not repeat the heroics and flew out to right field. Thomas Saggese followed with a flyout to center, leaving the Cardinals down to their final out. Masyn Winn then struck out on three pitches, officially ending the comeback attempt.
The final score was Milwaukee Brewers 8, St. Louis Cardinals 4. For the Cardinals, the defeat was particularly frustrating because they had successfully erased a three-run deficit and appeared to have the game under control after tying it in the seventh. Instead, four runs allowed in the eighth inning exposed the bullpen and defensive issues that have contributed to the club’s inconsistent season.
The Cardinals will have another opportunity to respond Saturday night when they return to American Family Field for the second game of the series. Quinn Mathews is scheduled to make his final start of the season for St. Louis, while former Cardinals pitcher Dustin May is expected to start for Milwaukee. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. Central Time, with the game available through Cardinals.TV.
With the regular season approaching its conclusion, St. Louis is now focused less on the standings and more on evaluating players and identifying the pieces that can help shape the club’s 2027 roster. The loss to Milwaukee showed both sides of the Cardinals’ current situation: an offense capable of fighting back from a significant deficit, but a bullpen and defense that remain major areas of concern as the organization looks toward the offseason.
Leave a Reply