MILWAUKEE — The Cardinals were hoping they could find a cure for their ailing offense with a game against a pitcher making his major-league debut on Friday night.
Instead, Robert Gasser held the Cardinals to just two hits in shutting them out for six innings as the Brewers continued their mastery over the Cardinals this season in Milwaukee. Gasser did not walk a batter and struck out four.
The Brewers defeated the Cardinals for the fifth time in as many games this season and extended the Cardinals overall losing streak to six games, leaving them eight games under .500.
In the first two games of this series the Brewers have outscored the Cardinals 18-3 and in their five games this season the Brewers have outscored the Cardinals 34-9.
Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals’ only hits off Gasser were singles by Ivan Herrera in the second and Masyn Winn in the third and … They scored in the seventh on a two-out walk to Herrera and a double by Alec Burleson … Nolan Gorman celebrated his 24th birthday with a home run in the ninth … Paul Goldschmidt returned to the lineup after missing one game and was 0-of-4, extending his hitless streak to a career-high 28 at-bats … Lars Nootbaar was 0-of-4 and struck out three times.
On the mound: Lance Lynn could not get through the fifth inning, when the Brewers scored five times to open a 7-0 lead … Matthew Liberatore relieved with two runners on base and allowed both to score as well as two more runs as he gave up three consecutive hits … The Brewers added four more runs in the seventh, all charged to Kyle Leahy … Two of the runs scored after Chris Roycroft relieved.
Key stat: One of the differences in the five games between the Brewers and Cardinals this season is the Cardinals have gone 2-of-33 with runners in scoring position while the Brewers have gone 19-of-52.
Worth noting: Matt Carpenter is expected to join the Cardinals on Saturday in Milwaukee after completing a rehab assignment in Memphis … The three stolen bases by the Brewers left opponents 20-of-20 against Herrera this season … The Cardinals claimed lefthanded reliever Kolton Ingram on waivers Friday from the Rangers and assigned him to Memphis. Riley O’Brien was moved to the 60-day injured list … Since Feb. 5 O’Brien has gone from the Angels to the Tigers to the Mets to the Rangers to the Cardinals.
Looking ahead: Kyle Gibson will try to snap the season-high losing streak in the third game of the series on Saturday night.