Brewers beat Wainwright, Cardinals
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St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Carlos Gomez had two hits, including an RBI double, helping the Milwaukee Brewers beat Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.
Matt Garza (1-1) picked up the win despite giving up two runs -- one earned -- on six hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings.
"I felt a little out of whack and had to keep making pitches," Garza said. "I'm not proud of five walks, but anyway you can get it done."
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The Brewers played their first road game of the season after being outscored 36-16 by Colorado and Pittsburgh during a 1-5 homestand.
The Cardinals went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position in their home opener, stranding 12 men on base.
"We couldn't get that big hit when we needed it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.
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Wainwright (1-1) pitched on seven days' rest after beating the Cubs last Sunday and yielded five runs -- three earned -- on eight hits and a walk, striking out four.
Jhonny Peralta had two hits and two RBI for the Cardinals, who went 3-2 on their rain-shortened road trip to start the season.
The Brewers took a 5-2 lead in the seventh inning on their first two RBI hits of the day -- Gomez's double and Jonathan Lucroy's single -- before Wainwright got Ryan Braun on a double play to end the inning.
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The Cardinals pulled within 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh when Braun let Peralta's hit get past him in right field for a two-run double. The Brewers intentionally walked Kolten Wong with a man at third, putting the go-ahead run on, but the gamble worked when Randal Grichuk grounded out.
Francisco Rodriguez earned his first save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth. He threw his glove up near his head to catch a sharp line drive hit by Peralta for the first out.
Leadoff baserunners produced two runs for each team in the first four innings.
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Gomez scored in the first inning after reaching base on Wong's error and a leadoff single by Kris Davis led to another Brewers run in the second.
A leadoff double by Matt Carpenter helped get St. Louis on the board in the third and back-to-back walks by Yadier Molina and Wong in the fourth helped the Cardinals tie the score at 2-2 when Wainwright bunted and shortstop Jean Segura overthrew first base trying to turn a double play.
Milwaukee scored a third consecutive run via a groundout and took a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning after Braun led off with a single, went to third on Adam Lind's double and came home on Aramis Ramirez's grounder to short.
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Game Notes
The Cardinals activated catcher Tony Cruz from the paternity leave list and optioned catcher Ed Easley to Triple-A Memphis ... The Brewers beat St. Louis for the second time in their last six meetings.