MILWAUKEE (AP) — Yadier Molina hit two home runs and the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals matched a season high with their sixth straight win Tuesday night, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 on a rain-delayed game inside Miller Park.
Play was halted briefly with the Cardinals batting with two outs in seventh inning as rain poured through the open roof and fans rushed to the covered concourses. The delay lasted about nine minutes as the retractable roof closed.
St. Louis right fielder Dexter Fowler preserved the win by jumping at the wall to catch a drive by Hernan Perez with two on for the final out.
Miles Mikolas (8-13) struck out 10 for the Cardinals, who have won 15 of 18 and are a season-best 15 games above .500. They held their three-game lead over Chicago in the division while the Brewers dropped 6 ½ back.
Molina also doubled in going 3 for 3 with a walk, driving in three runs and scoring three. He has seven homers this season, including three in the first two games of the series.
Molina's solo homer in the fifth inning made it 1-all. After Paul DeJong walked with one out in the seventh, Molina homered off the left-field foul pole against reliever Matt Albers (5-4) to break the tie.
After the rain delay, Harrison Bader singled and scored when pinch-hitter Kolten Wong slapped a double down the left-field line to extend the St. Louis lead to 4-1.
The Brewers cut the lead to 4-3 in the eighth on Yasmani Grandal's two-run homer to deep left-center off Andrew Miller. The Cardinals answered with two runs in the ninth on run-scoring singles by Bader and Wong.
Mikolas, who had allowed 15 earned runs in 22 innings in his previous three outings, held the Brewers in check. He gave up four hits and one run, on an RBI single by Orlando Arcia, in six innings. Mikolas didn't walk a batter.
Carlos Martinez got five outs to record his 16th save in 19 chances, with help from Fowler. Perez lofted a deep drive that Fowler caught at the fence.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: Wong didn't start for a third consecutive game after fouling a ball of his right big toe on Saturday but pinch-hit in the seventh and stayed in the game. . OF Lane Thomas remained in the game after being hit on the right hand by Devin Williams' pitch in the ninth.
Brewers: 3B Mike Moustakas sat out after leaving Monday's game in the third inning with pain in his left palm and wrist after being struck by hard-hit bouncer by Bader an inning earlier. X-rays were negative. "He's sore, as you would expect," manager Craig Counsell said. "We'll see how the next couple of days go." Cory Spangenberg started in his place.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: Jack Flaherty (8-6, 3.32 ERA) takes the mound in the three-game series finale Wednesday afternoon. Flaherty is 2-2 with a 4.79 ERA in eight career starts against the Brewers.
Brewers: Jordan Lyles (8-8, 4.69) will make his sixth start with Milwaukee after being acquired from the Pirates last month. He tossed six hitless innings in his last start on Friday against Arizona.
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