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The Milwaukee Brewers were riding a hot streak when they came to St. Louis to begin a three-game series Tuesday. The Brewers took the first game behind the excellent pitching combo of starter Frankie Montas and reliever Devin Williams who combined for eight innings of shutout baseball. The win was Milwaukee’s sixth straight.
However, the Cardinals refused to roll over. Instead, St. Louis took the next two games to win the series against the Brewers. The gutsy showing by the Cardinals impressed Brewers manager Pat Murphy. “That’s a team with nothing to lose,” Murphy said after Thursday’s 3-0 loss to St. Louis, per ESPN’s game recap.
Despite the defeat, the Brewers still maintain a commanding division lead. Milwaukee is 19 games over .500 and 10 games ahead of the second-place Cardinals in the NL Central. The Brewers boast the sixth best record in baseball and come in at number five in the most recent MLB Power Rankings.
While plucky, the Cardinals have not been able to keep pace with their division rivals. St. Louis did upgrade at the trade deadline, bringing in starting pitcher Erick Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham in a deal with the Chicago White Sox and relief pitcher Shawn Armstrong who came over from the Tampa Bay Rays for Dylan Carlson.
The Cardinals' scrappy play impressed the Brewers’ manager
However, the Cardinals are just 3-7 over their last 10 games and 13-18 since returning from the All-Star break. While the Brewers are running away with the division, despite Milwaukee losing former MVP Christian Yelich for the season due to a back injury, the Cardinals have lost ground in the NL Wild Card race. St. Louis is five games back in the Wild Card standings with three teams ahead of them for the final postseason berth.
Still, the Cardinals play the Brewers tough. St. Louis got an excellent start out of nine-year veteran Miles Mikolas, who went six innings and allowed two hits, one walk and no runs while striking out three batters. The Cardinals’ bullpen kept the Brewers off the scoreboard before Reliever of the Year candidate Ryan Helsley pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his MLB-leading 39th save of the season.
The Brewers also improved at the trade deadline, focusing on pitching. The team acquired starter Frankie Montas in a deal with the Cincinnati Reds as well as fellow starter Aaron Civale from the Rays and reliever Nick Mears from the Colorado Rockies.
The two teams will meet up again during the 2024 regular season when the Cardinals travel to Milwaukee for a three-game set starting September 2. Those games should receive more attention from fans than the series in St. Louis. The Cardinals set an all-time low attendance record during Tuesday’s game against the Brewers as St. Louis fans seem to understand that the team is playing out a lost season.
If the Cardinals fail to reach the playoffs they’ll have missed out on postseason play for two straight years after making the playoffs four consecutive seasons from 2019-2022.
