Wednesday night was that rare game for the St. Louis Cardinals where things didn’t fall into place. Where they didn’t come up with
the key strikeout or clutch hit that they’ve produced with frequency the last
six weeks.And where they took another injury hit
Jose Cruz Jr. Jersey , in addition to an illness that chased MVP candidate Matt Carpenter off the field in the fourth inning.The Cardinals’ 2-0 loss to the
Pittsburgh Pirates also puts their streak of series victories on the line in
Thursday night’s final game of the three-game set at Busch Stadium. Nine
consecutive series wins have brought St. Louis (74-59) from mediocrity to the
National League’s first wild-card spot.Article continues below ...But a wave of
injuries has suddenly left the Cardinals scrambling just before they can expand
their roster on Saturday. Before Wednesday night’s game, they disabled infielder
Jedd Gyorko (groin), making him the third player in the last week to hit the
10-day DL.After Gyorko joined left fielder Marcell Ozuna (shoulder) and second
baseman Kolten Wong (hamstring) on the shelf, Carpenter hurried off the field in
the fourth inning. He tried to play through what manager Mike Shildt termed a
24-hour bug, only to vomit near first base.“Looks like Carp will be just fine,”
Shildt said. “He was trying to power through it.”It was that type of night for
St. Louis, which missed on a golden opportunity to punish Trevor Williams in the
first inning when it got runners to second and third with no outs and couldn’t
even manage a run. Williams went on to fire six shutout innings for his 11th win
of the year, extending a dominant stretch which has seen him allow just four
runs in his last 48 innings over eight starts.“We had an opportunity in the
first to make a mark and didn’t get on the board,” Shildt said. “Guys kept
taking tough at-bats, but we came up short.”The Cardinals will try to capture
another series behind right-hander John Gant (5-5, 3.56 ERA)
http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-nolan-ryan-jersey , who has pitched the best baseball of his career over his last four starts. In
that span Gant has ceded only five runs in his last 22 2/3 innings, and he tied
a career high Saturday by lasting seven innings in Colorado while permitting
only one run.Gant’s last poor start took place on Aug. 3 in Pittsburgh, when he
was pounded for six runs on eight hits over four innings in a no-decision. Gant
is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in five career games, three of them starts, against the
Pirates. In two starts against Pittsburgh this season, Gant is 0-1 with an 8.68
ERA.Pittsburgh (65-68) will try to play spoiler for the second straight game
behind hard-throwing right-hander Joe Musgrove (5-7, 3.56), who is coming off a
short start Friday night at Milwaukee. He gave up six hits and four runs in four
innings of a 7-6, 15-inning loss, walking none and fanning four.Musgrove fired
seven shutout innings against St. Louis on May 25 in his first start of the
season, allowing just five hits and whiffing seven with no walks in an 8-1
victory. That was his only career appearance against the Cardinals. MILWAUKEE —
As the Milwaukee Brewers try to close in on a postseason berth
http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-yuli-gurriel-jersey , offense has suddenly become hard to come by.More Brewers coverageBrewers Final
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Week: 10/7/18 – 10/13/18The Brewers have managed four runs in their last three
losses, including one Tuesday night in a setback to the Reds that dropped them 3
1/2 games back of the first-place Cubs in the National League Central.“We’re
going to have to do better than that,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell conceded.
“More pressure has to be put on the other team.”That could be a difficult task
Wednesday night when Milwaukee wraps up a three-game series with the Reds at
Miller Park. Brewers third baseman Travis Shaw and center fielder Lorenzo Cain
left Tuesday’s game and their status for the series finale was unknown Tuesday
night.Shaw suffered a right knee contusion when he took a Michael Lorenzen pitch
to his knee in the second inning. X-rays came back negative and he’ll be
re-evaluated Wednesday.Cain, meanwhile, was pulled from the game with what
manager Craig Counsell said was a rib cage injury.“I just thought he took some
swings tonight in his second at-bat that didn’t look good, so we took him out of
the game,” Counsell said. “We’ll see how we’re looking (Wednesday). He’s pretty
adamant about wanting to play, but we have to be careful with this
thing
http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-jake-marisnick-jersey , too.”Losing Cain for any extended period of time would be a big blow for the
Brewers. He and Christian Yelich have formed a potent 1-2 punch atop Milwaukee’s
lineup this season and both rank among the National League’s top 10 in WAR,
batting average and on-base percentage, putting them both into the league’s MVP
conversation.Cain’s 6.7 WAR is tops among NL position players this season.“He’s
played exceptional baseball from the day he signed with us,” starting
right-hander Chase Anderson said. “Obviously replacing that guy, there’s some
big shoes to fill. Hopefully it’s nothing too serious and he gets back in the
lineup because he’s a dynamic player for us. I know we have some guys that can
step in for him for a little while, but obviously having Lorenzo in the lineup
is huge for us.”Solid pitching has kept the Brewers close despite those
offensive struggles. Milwaukee’s pitchers have allowed a total 13 runs over the
last five games and lead the National League with a 2.57 ERA since Sept.
1.Left-hander Gio Gonzalez will try to keep it going Wednesday in his third
start for Milwaukee. After a splendid debut against the Giants on Sept. 8,
Gonzalez looked much more like the pitcher who went 7-11 with a 4.57 ERA for the
Nationals his last time out when he failed to get through five innings after
allowing three runs on three hits and four walks while striking out six.The
Brewers’ offense got Gonzalez off the hook in that contest, belting three homers
to beat Pittsburgh, 7-4.“It’s good to see this team pick you up big time,”
Gonzalez said.Gonzalez might not be with the Brewers had they been able to work
out a deal with the Reds for their scheduled Wednesday starter, Matt
Harvey.Milwaukee was believed to have pursued a trade for the right-hander ahead
of the non-waiver trade deadline in July then
Michael Saunders Jersey , reportedly made a claim when Cincinnati placed him on waivers last month before deciding to hold onto Harvey for the rest of
the season.He faced the Brewers a few day after that decision and allowed five
runs on 11 hits over four innings, dropping him to 1-1 with a 5.52 ERA in three
starts against Milwaukee this season.Harvey, though, has pitched well since that
outing and has a 2.50 ERA with 19 strikeouts and only four walks in 18 innings
over his last three starts including six scoreless innings against the Cubs his
last time out.“I’m starting to really feel good,” Harvey said. “It’s kind of
coming at a good time, I guess you can say. I’m just trying to go out and
compete and do everything I can to help this team win. Things are coming out
good.”With their loss Tuesday night, the wild card again appears to be
Milwaukee’s most likely path to the postseason. The Brewers begin Wednesday
first in the wild-card race, two games ahead of St. Louis and 3 1/2 in front of
the Rockies.
