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Walks, missed chances hurt Cards in loss
St. Louis pitchers hand out nine free passes vs. Milwaukee
By Cash Kruth / MLB.com
07/09/09 1:30 AM ET
MILWAUKEE -- Time and time again, the St. Louis pitching staff found itself in a jam on Wednesday night.And time and time again, the Cardinals managed to get themselves out of it.
But the more you play with fire, the more likely you are to get burned, and when a pitching staff walks nine batters in a game like the Cardinals did, it's hard to come away with a victory.
Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder hit a go-ahead RBI infield single in the bottom of the eighth inning to hand the Cardinals a 5-4 loss, as the Brewers crept back to within a game of the Cardinals in the NL Central.
"That's usually what happens if you keep walking guys," St. Louis starter Todd Wellemeyer said. "Eventually, you keep walking guys [and] they're going to get some type of hit to get the guy in."
Although the Cardinals gave them plenty of chances, it took a while for the Brewers to take advantage of the St. Louis miscues. Milwaukee left the bases loaded in the second and seventh innings, before the Cardinals' mistakes finally came back to bite them in the bottom of the eighth.
Brewers second baseman Craig Counsell hit a ground-rule double with two outs and St. Louis reliever Jason Motte walked J.J. Hardy and Ryan Braun to load the bases before Dennys Reyes came in to face Fielder.
With a 2-2 count, Fielder hit a soft, dying liner into the hole at shortstop, but beat out Brendan Ryan's throw to first to score Counsell and give Milwaukee the lead.
"The walks hurt me, but the hit to Counsell [was a] stupid pitch," said Motte (3-3), who took the loss. "It was middle-in, stupid pitch. Then the two walks. I was just trying to make a good pitch to both of them, but I ended up walking them."
Despite the eventual go-ahead hit, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said the game should have never gotten that far.
"Two outs and nobody on. Motte had more to do with it than anything, [the game] getting away from us," La Russa said. "He put Fielder [on] there and he put the ball in play. [That was a] good piece of hitting.
"I know Jason's upset with himself -- two outs, nobody on and he couldn't get the third out before he loaded the bases. That puts you in a tough spot."
The Cardinals rallied in the top of the ninth, loading the bases against Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman. But Hoffman induced a grounder to third from Yadier Molina to end the inning, notching his 19th save of the season.
Brewers reliever Todd Coffey (4-1) earned the win after holding the Cards scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings.
Motte's struggles aside, the Cardinals had plenty of chances of their own to put the game away. After falling behind 1-0 in the second inning, the Cardinals exploded for four runs in the fourth inning.
Molina and Skip Shumaker each knocked in a run during the inning, but the biggest hit was a two-run double to left field by Ryan.
St. Louis's lead was short-lived, as the Brewers answered right back in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run homer by Mat Gamel and an RBI single by Counsell.
"[Wellemeyer] didn't shut [them] down. [He] walked guys, didn't get the ball where he was aiming, made some bad pitches," La Russa said. "He made some pitches at different times in the game, so he was capable. It just got away from him at the end."
The Cardinals had other chances in the later innings -- getting two on with one out in the fifth inning and runners on first and second with two down in the eighth -- but were unable to push a run across the board.
In all, Milwaukee left 12 runners on base, while the Cardinals stranded 11.
"We had a chance to add runs, they had chances," La Russa said. "There was a lot in that game. ... Wellemeyer, he needs to shut [them] down there, or at least limit them."
Cash Kruth is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
