Todd RosiakMilwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Brewers put in some serious work against the St. Louis Cardinals in the teams’ Labor Day matinee at American Family Field.
Willy Adames got the ball rolling with what else but a three-run home run in the first inning, Rhys Hoskins chipped in a two-run shot in the fourth and Jackson Chourio put the game out of reach with a grand slam in the sixth that capped a 9-3 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 41,731.
The three-run homer by Adames – on his 29th birthday, no less – put him into some rarified air with none other than Ken Griffey Jr., while Chourio’s grand slam upped Milwaukee’s season total to eight, which is second-most in the major leagues.
BOX SCORE: Brewers 9, Cardinals 3
Freddy Peralta wasn’t as sharp as he had been coming in but still managed to go 5 ⅓ innings while improving his record to 10-7.
The Brewers' magic number to clinch the National League's Central Division drops to 15, with a chance for it to reach 14 if the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs tonight.
More: Willy Adames ties major-league record with his 13th three-run homer of the season
More: 'He called it': With the bases empty, Jackson Chourio predicted his sixth-inning grand slam
Jackson Chourio clears the bases
Riley O'Brien entered the game for Cardinals starter Andre Pallante in the sixth and, well, the Brewers had their way with him.
He sandwiched a pair of walks around a Sal Frelick double to load the bases and after Brice Turang lined out, Jackson Chourio belted a 420-foot grand slam to left-center that broke the game wide open.
It was the second grand slam of the season for Chourio, who upped his season totals to 18 homers and 67 runs batted in, and eighth of the season for Milwaukee (second-most in the major leagues).
Bryan Hudson and Joe Ross
Freddy Peralta runs out of gas
Peralta's pitch count was at 91 heading into the sixth, and after he got Nolan Arenado to fly out Brendan Donovan singled and Paul Goldschmidt doubled. That brought out manager Pat Murphy, who tabbed Hudson to clean up the mess.
Pinch-hitter Luken Baker's sacrifice fly to center scored Donovan to make it 5-3, then Jordan Walker grounded out.
Over 102 pitches, Peralta allowed six hits, three runs and two walks with three strikeouts.
Rhys Hoskins gets into the act
Garrett Mitchell singled to open the bottom of the fourth, then stole second to get himself into scoring position.
He was able to job home, however, when Hoskins yanked a 1-2 mistake from Pallante out to left to up the Brewers' advantage to 5-1.
Later in the inning, Chourio drew his third walk in as many plate appearances (he entered with 28 on the season) but William Contreras grounded out with a pair on and two outs.
Pedro Pagés hit his second homer in as many at-bats with one out in the fifth that made it 5-2. It was the first career multi-homer game for Pagés, who had three on the season coming in.
Freddy Peralta makes one big mistake
In an 0-2 count to open the third, Peralta left a four-seam fastball out over the heart of the plate that Pagés didn't miss.
His homer to left-center got the Cardinals on the board at 3-1.
After another crack with two runners on for Adames in the bottom of the third – he grounded out – St. Louis got runners to the corners with two outs in the fourth, then tried the traditional double steal in an attempt to whittle into Milwaukee's lead even further.
But the Brewers played it perfectly, with Contreras throwing wide down to Brice Turang, who in turn threw a strike back home to easily cut down Donovan trying to score.
Willy Adames does it again
What a way to celebrate a 29th birthday.
Following a one-out walk issued to Chourio and a two-out walk issued to Jake Bauers, Adames battled Pallante for eight pitches before smacking a three-run homer just over the wall in left to give the Brewers a quick 3-0 advantage in the first inning.
The three-run homer was the 13th of the season for Adames, tying him with Ken Griffey Jr. for most in major-league history.
It also gave Adames homers in five straight games, tying him with Jeromy Burnitz (1997) and Eric Thames (2017) for the franchise record.
Adames now has 29 homers and 99 RBI for the season.
Brewers time, TV, radio
The Brewers game starts at 1:10 p.m. Monday.
TV: Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620 and a state network.
Brewers lineup
- Bruce Turang 2B
- Jackson Chourio LF
- William Contreras C
- Jake Bauers DH
- Willy Adames SS
- Garrett Mitchell CF
- Rhys Hoskins 1B
- Sal Frelick RF
- Joey Ortiz 3B
Cardinals lineup
- Masyn Winn SS
- Alec Burleson DH
- Nolan Arenado 3B
- Brendan Donovan 2B
- Paul Goldschmidt 1B
- Lars Nootbaar LF
- Jordan Walker RF
- Pedro Pagés C
- Michael Siani CF
Brewers schedule
Brewers vs. Cardinals, 6:40 a.m. Tuesday. Milwaukee RHP Aaron Civale (5-8, 4.59) vs. St. Louis RHP Steven Matz (1-2, 6.18). Broadcasts: TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
Brewers vs. Cardinals, 6:40 p.m. Wednesday. Milwaukee RHP Colin Rea (12-4, 3.70) vs. St. Louis RHP Sonny Gray (12-9, 3.96). TV – Bally Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620.
