Grichuk's hit in 10th gives Cardinals victory
MILWAUKEE -- Randal Grichuk's 10th-inning RBI single to shallow right right drove in the go-ahead run as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Tuesday night at Miller Park.
Jhnonny Peralta reached three times and Yadier Molina got on twice from St. Louis and kicked off the late rally by opening the 10th with a single and ground-rule double, respectively, off Corey Knebel (0-2), setting the stage for Grichuk's go-ahead hit.
The Brewers loaded the bases in the 10th against Matt Bowman but Zach Duke struck out pinch-hitter Manny Pina for his first save of the season.
Wily Peralta made his best start of the year, holding the Cardinals to one run on three hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts.
Adam Wainwright had an equally strong outing, snapping a string of frustrating starts by also allowing a run on three hits. He didn't walk a batter and struck out seven.
Neither pitcher allowed a baserunner through his first three innings and lost their no-hit bids with leadoff singles in the fourth.
St. Louis struck first when Gryoko sent a 1-1 slider to right-center for his 24th home run of the season in the sixth inning but Milwaukee got the run back in the bottom half on back-to-back doubles from Keon Broxton and Martin Maldonado.
Tyler Thornburg held the line by striking out the side in the ninth and Milwaukee put runners at second and third with two outs but Seung Hwan Oh (4-2) sent the game to extra innings by striking out Chris Carter looking.
NOTES: Milwaukee sent INF Will Middlebrooks outright to Triple-A Colorado Springs on Tuesday, clearing a spot on the team's 40-man roster for a potential September call-up. Middlebrooks, signed as a minor league free agent last winter, batted .282 with 22 doubles and 10 home runs in 68 games for Colorado Springs, earning a call-up to Milwaukee on July 4. He appeared in just 10 games for Milwaukee and went 3-for-10 before landing on the DL with a strained right leg. ... X-rays on the thumb of INF Aledmys Diaz showed him recovering well enough to begin swinging a bat later this week, though he is still unable to resume throwing or fielding work. Diaz has been out since suffering a hairline fracture of his right thumb back July 31.