This is bad.
Cardinals vs. Brewers: Milwaukee Tallies Again, Now Up 4-2
For the Cardinals, anyway.
Tony La Russa yanked starter Kyle Lohse in the fifth inning, which wasn't anything new; La Russa's been yanking his starters early in games throughout this series, and it's been working pretty well for him.
Until Game 4, anyway. Mitchell Boggs replaced Lohse in the fifth, and was greeted by Ryan Braun's go-ahead single. Boggs did escape more damage with an inning-ending double play, but Fielder ripped the ball and only second baseman Ryan Theriot's acrobatics kept the Brewers from a big inning.
But La Russa’s relievers, who have pitched so brilliantly, just haven’t kept the Brewers off the board in Game 4.
First there was Braun's single in the fifth. Then in the sixth, with Boggs still on the mound, Rickie Weeks singled and Jerry Hairston Jr. doubled. Weeks had to stop at third and couldn't score Yuniesky Betancourt grounded out, but he did score when Theriot, playing in for just such an eventuality, couldn't handle George Kottaras's grounder up the middle. Theriot got an error and the Brewers got a run, and now it's Brewers 4, Cardinals 2 in the middle of the sixth.
Meanwhile, Ron Roenicke has committed to Randy Wolf; Roenicke didn't pitch hit for Kottaras -- Wolf's personal catcher -- and he didn't pinch-hit for Wolf himself, who bunted for a sacrifice.
The eighth and ninth innings are Innings of Death when you’re facing the Brewers. But the Cardinals’ right-handed hitters still have time to hurt the lefty Wolf.
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