Tuesday’s Game Report: Brewers sweep doubleheader over Cardinals

By Rob Rains

The Cardinals knew how tough it was going to be to face  Jacob Misiorowski and his triple-digit fastball in the first of their two games against the Brewers on Tuesday at Busch Stadium.

What they didn’t know was that facing Robert Gasser in game two was going to prove to be just as difficult an assignment.

The two Milwaukee starters combined to pitch 14 2/3 innings and allowed a total of seven hits and five runs in pitching the Brewers to a sweep of the day-night doubleheader.

Misiorowski did allow two homers, to Jordan Walker and Ivan Herrera, but allowed only one other hit and struck out 11 over 7 innings in the 4-3 victory in game one.

In game two, Gasser – called up from Triple A Nashville to be the 27^th man in the DH – allowed only two runs, on a home run by Nelson Velazquez – over 7 2/3 innings in the 10-2 Milwaukee victory.

A seven-run seventh inning blew open a 3-2 game and prompted the Cardinals to use a position player, Bryan Torres, to pitch the final two innings.

Torres retired six of the eight hitters he faced, walking one, with the other runner reaching on an error. He is the first position player to work two scoreless innings in a game for the Cardinals since Cody McKay in 2004.

The Brewers have won the first three games in this five-game series and overall the Cardinals have lost seven of their last eight home games.

Here is how Tuesday’s doubleheader broke down:

At the plate: The Cardinals’ only hit other than the two homers off Misiorowski was a first-inning double by Lars Nootbaar. Misiorowski retired 19 of the final 20 hitters he faced after Nootbaar’s double. The only hit was Herrera’s second career homer off Misiorowski … They had only two singles in the first five innings off Gasser in game two before Walker singled with two outs in the sixth, followed by the home run from Velazquez … Between the two games, the Cardinals’ sixth to ninth-place hitters were a combined 1-of-22 … The team had four at-bats with a runner in scoring position between the two games, all in game one.

On the mound: Matt Svanson started game one with a scoreless inning, then Brian Zimmermann, recalled from Memphis, worked five innings and allowed three runs … The Brewers snapped a 3-3 tie with a run in the seventh, charged to Ryne Stanek, who had to come out of the game after rolling his ankle while covering first base … Hunter Dobbins came up from Memphis to start game two and pitched into the sixth inning, allowing three runs … Jared Shuster, the third pitcher called up from Triple A on the day, could not get through the seventh inning when he gave up five hits and walked three, leading to the seven runs.

Key stat: The Cardinals have lost seven consecutive games to the Brewers, being outscored 37-12, and are just 1-7 against the Brewers this season. That’s tied for the second longest losing streak to the Brewers in franchise history, trailing only an eight-game streak split between the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Worth noting: Riley O’Brien was added to the NL roster for the All-Star game as the league picked three pitchers to replace starters who won’t be able to pitch in the game because they are starting on Sunday … With his homer in the day game, Walker became the first Cardinal to hit 21 or more homers in the first 89 games of the season since Lance Berkman hit 23 in 2011 … The series of roster moves involving the pitching staff basically was designed to give Michael McGreevy and Andre Pallante an extra day of rest. After his outing in game one, Zimmermann was designated for assignment and replaced on the roster by Shuster for game two. Max Rajcic was moved to the 60-day injured list and Ryan Fernandez was optioned to Memphis.

Up next: McGreevy will get the start on Wednesday night in the fourth game of the series.

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