Cardinals Shred Brewers 7-1, Take 3-2 NLCS Lead

The St. Louis Cardinals are one game away from the World Series after topping the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night by a 7-1 margin. The Brewers offense struggled, but the defense, working behind Zack Greinke, was just as poor. And the breakdowns proved costly, putting the Brewers’ backs against the wall as the series heads back to Miller Park.

Greinke pitched well, even if a peek at the scoreline shows the Brewers gave up five runs while he was on the mound. After the game, manager Ron Roenicke praised Greinke’s performance, saying he threw the ball well.

You’re not supposed to order a sacrifice bunt when your pitcher’s on deck.

You’re not supposed to yank your starting pitcher with two outs in the fifth inning, when he’s pitched effectively and you’ve got a three-run lead.

Still 5-1 Cardinals going into the bottom of the eighth, and this one looks over. The Brewers have put ten runners on base, but just the one of them has scored, and Braun, Fielder and Weeks have combined to leave 11 guys on base.

So now the Brewers are down to six outs to score at least four runs. Everybody talks about the Miller Park home-field advantage; it’s looking like the Brewers are gonna need to count on that.

Not one. This from a guy who struck out 10.5 batters per nine innings during the year.

Why am I bringing this up now? Because Greinke was pulled in the bottom of the sixth, setting his numbers in stone. And he was pulled because he allowed the score to get worse.

So this just came over the transom a few minutes ago:

I don’t pay that close attention, but how many other pitchers cover their mouths with their hands, instead of their gloves?

They came close in the bottom of the fifth. The 4-1 score very nearly became another, more lopsided score. But it did not.

4-1 Cardinals, top six.

Except Corey Hart drove that liner into left. And Jerry Hairston shot a grounder into left field for another single.

Tough darts for García, who will again fail to earn his first postseason victory.

But it’s still 4-0, and the Brewers have five remaining innings to beat the odds.

Albert Pujols made a lovely play to end the top of the third inning:

This is not a huge surprise, considering that Pujols has won Gold Glove Awards and has long been one of the league’s best-fielding first basemen, according to all the metrics you care to consult.

Inning over. Still 3-0 St. Louis. The Brewers have had their baserunners, but none of them have come around.

The Cardinals’ No. 8 and 9 hitters were coming up, which should have helped.

Now Greinke had only to retire García, who shot a grounder right at Hairston ... who let the ball go right between his legs, with two runners scoring on the play. This was the bad Jerry:

Come to think of it, that probably isn’t the best way to put things. Garcia, after all, didn’t throw a 1-2-3 top of the first. But he did well. Let me explain.

Boom. Just wait. Punto will make one great play or contribute a key hit, and La Russa will look like a freaking genius.

Remember, in Game 1 the Cardinals scored six runs against Greinke, but still managed to lose by three runs because Jaime García and the bullpen did even worse and the Cards couldn’t touch Milwaukee’s relievers.

In Game 1, the Brewers lit up Garcia for six runs in four innings. The Brewers are not that good, and Garcia is not that bad, so one shouldn’t expect a repeat performance. But the Brewers do have a solid lineup, if an unbalanced lineup, so Garcia will have his work cut out for him, as any pitcher facing the Brewers does.

Yuniesky Betancourt hitting sixth. On a playoff team. It sounds so absurd, but Betancourt does have a career .729 OPS against lefties. Which isn’t particularly good, but it’s enough.

All of which is worth reviewing, I think, because a) Greinke and García are facing off tonight in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, and b) they’ve both struggled in their two starts apiece in the postseason; García’s got a 7.36 ERA so far, Greinke 8.18.

Yeah, I know: Small Sample Sizes. I’m not particularly concerned for them. But even if you don’t want to review the above, this isn’t the worst time to look at their performances this season ... graphically.

The Cardinals will trot Jaime Garcia back out, who uncharacteristically was bounced early from game 1. Garcia had a rough outing, giving up two home runs, walking three batters, and giving up 6 runs in only 4.0 innings. The Cardinals expect him to come out and pitch like he did in the regular season to slow down the Brewers bats.

Game Date/Time: October 14, 8:05 p.m. EDT