Overbay Traded to Toronto!
Up and Down Weeks
Brewers Lose 11-4 to Cardinals
Dennis Jenders
Mistakes lead to the Brewers 11-4 loss against St. Louis Monday evening. The Brewers who had won 5 of their last 6 would find this 4 game series to be a test, which they failed in the first game.
Things started rough in the first inning for Victor Santos who could not get a strike called for anything over the edge of the plate by home plate umpire Jerry Layne. Struggling as he nibbled on the corners Santos walked Pujols, tossed one down the middle for Jim Edmonds for a single, and then Larry Walker doubled to score Pujols with a weak ball hit over the infield. That shot dropped just in front of a streaking Rickie Weeks, but he hesitated slightly before firing to J.J. Hardy who was covering second base. The errant throw got past Hardy and Bill Hall to score Jim Edmonds and Walker got all the way to third before Carlos Lee retrieved the ball.
Matt Morris did not have his best stuff either. Carlos Lee would single off him in the second and Geoff Jenkins hit a blast over the center field wall to tie the game at 2-2. Things looked under control as Santos mowed through the lineup in the second but the third was another story.
Again walks contributed to problems for the Brewers as Pujols singled to center with one out and Santos walked Jim Edmonds. Larry Walker again found himself with ducks on the pond and singled to score Pujols. Mark Grudzielanek singled to right to score Edmonds and Abraham Nunez doubled scoring Grudzielanek and Walker.
Wes Obermueller relieved Santos in the fourth and quickly found himself in trouble with Pujols hitting a two run shot. Jim Edmonds followed with a single and Weeks bobbled a double play ball that left both Edmonds and Walker safe. The Cardinals had tacked on 3 more runs to put the game virtually out of reach, and giving Morris plenty of breathing room for the win.
The Cards would add 2 more in the sixth. J.J. Hardy had an RBI single in the eighth to score Wes Helms and Rickie Weeks hit a 460ft shot to the upper deck in the bottom of the ninth.
Weeks continues to hit well, but his errors, 8 in 33 games, gave the Cardinals two runs that helped them pull away early. Santos was visiblly frustrated with the lack of strikes being called on the edges of the plate. The frustration led to walks and a perfect 4-4 night for the middle of the lineup against Santos.
The Brewers will look to bounce back tonight when Doug Davis, 9-7, takes the mound against Jeff Suppan, 9-7.