Brewers 9, Cardinals 6
Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder homered and combined for six RBIs as the Milwaukee Brewers pounded their way to a 9-6 victory over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday.
Yuniesky Betancourt added a two-run blast and Jonathan Lucroy singled in a run for the Brewers, who have won all four of their home games in the playoffs.
St. Louis held a 5-2 advantage when Jaime Garcia (0-1) fell apart in the fifth inning. The first four batters each recorded hits, with Braun’s two-run ground-rule double pulling Milwaukee within 5-4.
Fielder followed and launched the first pitch he saw - a cutter right over the heart of the plate - on a line over the right-center field wall to put the Brewers back on top and end Garcia’s day.
Betancourt followed two batters later with a two-run blast off Octavio Dotel, capping the six-run frame.
Zack Greinke (1-0) ended up with the win but was not sharp, allowing a run in the first. He put Milwaukee in a hole when he served up a three-run homer to David Freese on a high curveball in the fourth.
Greinke ended up charged with six runs in six innings but Takashi Saito, Francisco Rodriguez and John Axford each worked a clean inning to lock down the win.