Brewers' Wilkerson stymies Cardinals
The Sports Xchange
Oct 1, 2017
ST. LOUIS -- Aaron Wilkerson retired the first 17 batters he faced Sunday as the Milwaukee Brewers bounced the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in each team's final game of the 2017 season at Busch Stadium.
Wilkerson (1-0), making his second big league start, lost his perfect game on a pinch-hit single by Jose Martinez in the sixth. Randal Grichuk then belted a solo homer in the seventh, his 22nd of the year, to spoil the shutout.
But Wilkerson allowed nothing else in his seven innings, fanning five, as Milwaukee (86-76) won a day after seeing its long-shot playoff hopes end by blowing a 6-0 lead in a 7-6 defeat to St. Louis.
Jack Flaherty (0-2) took the loss for the Cardinals, who wound up 83-79. Flaherty worked five innings, yielding five hits and four runs with a pair of walks and five strikeouts.
The Brewers touched Flaherty for four first-inning runs. Eric Sogard walked, Jonathan Villar singled and Eric Thames walked to load the bases. Jesus Aguilar chased Sogard home on a sacrifice fly and Brett Phillips cracked a three-run homer to right-center, his fourth of the year.
Aguilar capped the scoring in the eighth with a two-run homer to left-center off reliever Sandy Alcantara, his 16th of the year.
Carlos Torres and Taylor Williams wrapped up the win for Williams as Milwaukee finished a surprising second place in the National League Central. The Brewers were picked to finish last by some experts.
St. Louis finished third, registering a second straight disappointing season in which it failed to make the playoffs. The Cardinals lost seven of their last nine games.
A crowd of 44,787 attended the game, bringing St. Louis' season attendance to 3,447,937 -- second-highest in the majors. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers drew more fans for their home games.
NOTES: Milwaukee 1B Eric Thames (foot) was in the lineup Sunday after leaving Saturday's game in the eighth inning after fouling a pitch off it. Brewers manager Craig Counsell wasn't sure if Thames would play in the season finale. ... St. Louis 3B Aledmys Diaz (strained left hamstring) left Sunday's game after the second inning when he was injured trying to beat out an infield hit. ... Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (elbow) disclosed Sunday that he will have arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday to repair it. Wainwright pitched just two innings over the last six weeks of the season, finishing 12-5 with a 5.11 ERA.
Oct 1, 2017
ST. LOUIS -- Aaron Wilkerson retired the first 17 batters he faced Sunday as the Milwaukee Brewers bounced the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in each team's final game of the 2017 season at Busch Stadium.
Wilkerson (1-0), making his second big league start, lost his perfect game on a pinch-hit single by Jose Martinez in the sixth. Randal Grichuk then belted a solo homer in the seventh, his 22nd of the year, to spoil the shutout.
But Wilkerson allowed nothing else in his seven innings, fanning five, as Milwaukee (86-76) won a day after seeing its long-shot playoff hopes end by blowing a 6-0 lead in a 7-6 defeat to St. Louis.
Jack Flaherty (0-2) took the loss for the Cardinals, who wound up 83-79. Flaherty worked five innings, yielding five hits and four runs with a pair of walks and five strikeouts.
The Brewers touched Flaherty for four first-inning runs. Eric Sogard walked, Jonathan Villar singled and Eric Thames walked to load the bases. Jesus Aguilar chased Sogard home on a sacrifice fly and Brett Phillips cracked a three-run homer to right-center, his fourth of the year.
Aguilar capped the scoring in the eighth with a two-run homer to left-center off reliever Sandy Alcantara, his 16th of the year.
Carlos Torres and Taylor Williams wrapped up the win for Williams as Milwaukee finished a surprising second place in the National League Central. The Brewers were picked to finish last by some experts.
St. Louis finished third, registering a second straight disappointing season in which it failed to make the playoffs. The Cardinals lost seven of their last nine games.
A crowd of 44,787 attended the game, bringing St. Louis' season attendance to 3,447,937 -- second-highest in the majors. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers drew more fans for their home games.
NOTES: Milwaukee 1B Eric Thames (foot) was in the lineup Sunday after leaving Saturday's game in the eighth inning after fouling a pitch off it. Brewers manager Craig Counsell wasn't sure if Thames would play in the season finale. ... St. Louis 3B Aledmys Diaz (strained left hamstring) left Sunday's game after the second inning when he was injured trying to beat out an infield hit. ... Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright (elbow) disclosed Sunday that he will have arthroscopic surgery on Tuesday to repair it. Wainwright pitched just two innings over the last six weeks of the season, finishing 12-5 with a 5.11 ERA.
