ST. LOUIS – When Wade Miley walked off the mound at Busch Stadium in the second inning Tuesday night, the Milwaukee Brewers were going to need a Herculean effort from their bullpen to beat the suddenly red-hot St. Louis Cardinals.
They got it and then some.
Box Score: Brewers 3, Cardinals 2
Five Brewers relievers combined to cover 22 outs, including a five-out save from Devin Williams, to make a Brian Anderson go-ahead home run in the sixth hold up in a 3-2 Brewers victory.
Miley made it only five outs, giving up Nolan Arenado’s fifth homer in as many days in the process, before exiting with a left lat strain, an injury that could not only deal a swift blow to an already-thinned Brewers rotation but put them in a bind going forward the rest of the evening.
Elvis Peguero was the first out of the bullpen and completed the second and third innings. Hoby Milner took over from there and recorded four outs, giving up a two-out RBI single to Brendan Donovan in the fourth that gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. Joel Payamps completed the fifth and sixth, stranding the go-ahead run at second in his final frame.
The Brewers’ top two late-game arms combined for the final nine outs. Peter Strzelecki pitched a clean seventh and recorded the first out of the eighth before Paul DeJong walked and went to third on Tommy Edman’s single.
In came Williams, who stranded the go-ahead run at second himself by striking out Donovan and inducing a weak tapper to the mound from pinch hitter Alec Burleson.
The Brewers opened the scoring in the top of the first when Owen Miller led off with a double off Cardinals lefty Jordan Montgomery and then scored two batters later on Willy Adames’ ground-rule double.
They trailed, 2-1, when Joey Wiemer drove a first-pitch sinker from Montgomery out to center with one out in the fifth for a solo blast, his fourth of the year.
Anderson gave the Brewers the lead by sending a hanging curve from Montgomery on the first pitch of the sixth out to right-center for his first homer since April 23.
In the ninth, a Wiemer misplay on a Willson Contreras line drive that should have ended the game gave Williams and the Brewers a scare. Contreras took second on the play as Wiemer got turned around on a scorching liner, then missed the ball as he attempted to reach across his body and make the catch.
After Wiliams fell behind Arenado, 2-0, the very next batter, the Brewers opted to walk the Cardinals third baseman intentionally and face Paul DeJong. It worked. DeJong grounded out to third and the Brewers had an eventful win.
Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.
DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers bullpen saves the day after Wade Miley’s injury in 3-2 win
