Cardinals defeat rival Brewers 3-0!

On Friday night, while the Blues were taking on the Wild in St. Louis in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Cardinals were in Milwaukee taking on their NL Central rivals for the second time this season. The last time these two teams met, it was at Busch Stadium, and in a three game series, the Cardinals would win two out of three.

And in game one of the first Cardinals/Brewers series at Miller Park in 2015, the Cardinals would emerge victorious.

The Brewers sent veteran right-hander Matt Garza on the mound, who in 11 career starts entering Friday night, had a career record of 4-3 against the Cardinals. He faced off against them in the series at Busch, starting on the April 13th game, and would get the victory.

For St. Louis, Carlos Martinez, who entered with a 1-0 record in three starts.

Garza started off the game with a 1-2-3 inning, getting out Matt Carpenter, Jason Heyward, and Matt Holliday. Martinez, would start the first by allowing a base hit to Jean Segura, who would then be forced out at second as Gerardo Parra would beat out a throw to first. A defensive gaffe by shortstop Jhonny Peralta on a ball hit by Ryan Braun would lead to runners on first and second with one out.

Adam Lind, who has been the Brewers’ best hitter at the start of 2015, hit a fly ball deep to center, but Jon Jay made the catch for the out, and after Braun forgot to tag up on base, the Cardinals got the double play, and the game headed to the second inning still scoreless.

First baseman Matt Adams led off the second with a base hit, and Peralta followed with a base hit as well. Jay would get a force out, as Adams would be forced out at second, though Peralta advanced to third. Yadier Molina, coming off a day of rest. Jay would steal second after a low pitch thrown by Garza, and a subsequent grounder to first by Molina scored Peralta, putting the Cardinals up 1-0 with two outs.

During the bottom half of the second, Khris Davis started with a double, and advanced to third after a foul-ball pop-out by Aramis Ramirez. Martin Maldonado then struck out to end the second inning with the Cardinals still ahead 1-0.

With two outs in the top of the third, Heyward would take a Garza pitch on a two-strike count deep to left-center field for his second home run of the season, giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. The bottom of the third featured more poor base-running by the Brewers, as Molina would contribute to a strike ’em out/throw ’em out double play by the Cardinals.

Martinez, stepped up to bat with two runners on and two outs in the top of the fourth with a good chance to add to the Cardinals’ league, and despite a good at-bat, he would strike out against Garza.

Carpenter, who started the game 0-2, lined a shot into center-field for his first hit of the night. The hit extended his hitting streak to 11 games on the season. However, the Cardinals would strand him on base, as Martinez would head back to work on the mound.

He would do it though…without Molina.

The previous inning, Molina took a rough shot after a foul tip on the right knee. He had taken himself out of the game during the fifth inning warm-ups. Tony Cruz took over at catcher for the remainder of the game.

In the sixth inning, Peralta, launched a home run into left field, to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.

Garza would be taken out shortly after that home run, after pitching six innings, seven hits, three runs (three earned runs), two walks and six strikeouts. Will Smith entered in relief, and had

Martinez, meanwhile, continued to roll for St. Louis. His final stat-line when he was taken out: seven innings, struck out eight batters (tied a career high), threw 98 pitches, with 68 of them being strikes, and he allowed no runs. Jordan Walden pitched the eighth inning in relief for Martinez, and would allow a sole base hit, struck out one, and got Parra to fly out, as the game would head to the final inning, with the Cardinals up 3-0.

Milwaukee reliever Neil Cotts pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, and the bottom of the ninth inning, Cardinals’ closer Trevor Rosenthal would pitch a 1-2-3 inning of his own, notching his seventh save of the season.

With the 3-0 Martinez would get his second win of the year, and the Cardinals would improve to 11-4, maintaining their position at the top of the National League Central.

On Saturday afternoon, Adam Wainwright will face Wily Peralta.

(AP Photo/Morry Gash)