Brewers put on a fireworks show in Labor Day rout of Cardinals

Three home runs account for all of the runs in 9-3 victory

Box Score

It may have been a day game in Milwaukee, but the fireworks came out anyway. The Brewers scored nine runs, all off of three home runs. The end result was a 9-3 rout of the Cardinals.

All it took was five batters for the Brewers to take the lead. After Jackson Chourio and Jake Bauers drew walks, Willy Adames came up for the first time on his 29th birthday. Once again, three was his lucky number as he hit another three-run home run. It tied him with Ken Griffey Jr. for the most three-run home runs in an MLB season with 13.

After a solo shot by Pedro Pagés closed the gap to 3-1 in the third, the Cardinals had a chance to tighten it further. Singles from Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar put runners at first and third with two outs. Nootbaar went for the steal, but it was a distraction to get Donovan to score. However, the Brewers read it perfectly. Once Donovan was committed to running home, Brice Turang threw to William Contreras and they had him easily at home plate.

That set up the bottom of the inning, where the Brewers added on. After Garrett Mitchell singled and stole second to start the inning, Rhys Hoskins brought him in and more with a two-run shot to left field. That increased the Brewers’ lead to 5-1.

The Cardinals wouldn’t go away. Pagés hit his second solo home run of the day in the fifth inning. In the sixth, the Cardinals chased Freddy Peralta out of the game after a Donovan single and Paul Goldschmidt double. Bryan Hudson came in and allowed a sacrifice fly to Luken Baker but nothing else as he got out of the sixth inning. Peralta’s day ended after 5 ¹⁄₃ innings with three runs allowed, two of those coming on solo home runs.

With the Cardinals creeping back into the game, the Brewers had to keep them in check. They quickly loaded the bases with a Hoskins walk, Sal Frelick double, and Joey Ortiz walk. Turang hit a hard line drive to first, but Goldschmidt made a leaping grab to prevent at least two runs from scoring, for the moment. Next up was Chourio, and he made sure to hit the ball somewhere no one could catch it. It was a grand slam to left-center field, and the Brewers blew the game wide open at 9-3.

The plate discipline was on full display Monday afternoon. The Brewers had more walks (eight) than hits (seven) and matched their strikeouts for the day. Jackson Chourio reached base four times on three walks and a home run. It was another balanced game for the offense as every starter reached base at least once.

From there, the Cardinals didn’t threaten again. Bryan Hudson pitched 1 ²⁄₃ innings, allowing just the sacrifice fly and two walks. Joe Ross finished off the game, allowing just one walk with four strikeouts over the final two innings.

The Brewers are back in action right away on Tuesday night. Aaron Civale will be on the mound to face Steven Matz of the Cardinals. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. on Bally Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.