Brewers knock Cards back with win
ST. LOUIS -- Ryan Braun slammed his 27th homer of the year with one out in the ninth inning Sunday to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Braun's homer, his first this season against the Cardinals, came on a 3-2 pitch off reliever Kevin Siegrist after the Cardinals had tied the game in the bottom of the eighth.
The loss, combined with the Mets' win over the Braves, dropped the Cardinals out of the second wild-card spot, a half-game behind New York.
For the second game in a row, the Cardinals trailed the Brewers 1-0 going to the eighth inning before rallying. Instead of taking the lead this time, however, they merely tied the game, setting the stage for Braun's game-winning homer.
Matt Carpenter led off the Cardinals eighth with a double, only their fifth hit off Zach Davies. He went to third on a groundout by Kolten Wong, and after Tyler Thornburg relieved Davies, Stephen Piscotty hit his first pitch to center field, deep enough for Carpenter to trot home.
Davies had protected the 1-0 lead since the first inning, when Scooter Gennett singled with one out, went to third on a single by Ryan Braun and scored on a sacrifice fly by Chris Carter to center fielder Randal Grichuk.
That was the only run allowed by Cardinals' rookie Luke Weaver, who gave up just three hits over six innings, walking one and striking out eight. The Brewers had only one hit off Weaver after the first inning, a one-out single by Martin Maldonado in the fifth, before coming out of the game after the sixth inning. He retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced after walking Maldonado with two outs in the second.
The loss also dropped the Cardinals to 0-8 this season when they had a chance to move a season-high 10 games over .500.
The Cardinals were held without a home run for the second consecutive game for the first time since Aug. 7-8. They did hit two fly balls to the warning track in center field, but each was tracked down by Keon Broxton. The Cardinals lead the National League with 204 homers.
NOTES: The Cardinals activated SS Aledmys Diaz from the disabled list before Sunday's game. He has been out since July 31 because of a broken thumb. ... Cardinals' RHP Michael Wacha, who has been on the disabled list since Aug. 9, is expected to throw live batting practice on Monday as he tries to become a bullpen option for the team before the end of the regular season. ... The 2017 option in Cardinals' RHP Seung Hwan Oh's contract automatically vested when he finished his 30th game on Friday night. Oh will receive a raise to $2.75 million next season. ... After RHP Corey Knebel endured the loss in Saturday night's game, Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said it is likely he will be used in lower-leverage situations in the near future. Knebel has allowed nine runs in his last 4 2/3 innings, covering six games.