Milwaukee Brewers defeat St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 to lead NL Central by 10.5 games – MLB Update
Randy Wolf helped the Milwaukee Brewers reinforce their chances of making it to the postseason as they silenced the St. Louis 4-1 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri on September 5 to extend their lead to 10.5 games over their division rivals.
The Brewers extended their winning-streak to four games after this win, having previously completed a three-game series whitewash over the lowly-ranked Houston Astros. It was a good vengeance for Milwaukee who suffered a three-game series whitewash themselves
at the hands of the Cardinals from August 30 to September 1.
The Cardinals were giving a tough time to the Brewers for the top notch in the National League Central but a flurry of losses have scratched their hopes, if any, of making it to the playoffs. The Cardinals would have had a fair chance of qualifying, given
their win-loss record of 74-67, but an exceptional performance by the Atlanta Braves has docked the Wild Card route for other teams.
Randy Wolf pitched eight spotless-innings to win his 12th game of the season with nine losses to his credit thus far. He struck-out five batters in this stretch which saw him throw 112 pitches in a fierce display of arm strength and dynamism.
Wolf successfully brought his earned-run average below the 3.50 mark and made a strong statement for a permanent spot in the rotation for the postseason.
John Axford was brilliant as closer. He pitched a perfect ninth inning to seal the game for the Brewers and take them to 85 wins for the season, just four shy of MLB leaders Philadelphia Phillies and one less than the New York Yankees.
Jake Westbrook, however, failed to impress for the Cardinals as he lost his eighth start of the season after leaking nine hits and three runs for his ERA to rise to 4.65. His win-loss tally for the season now stands at 11-8 but a more composed performance
here would have given his team a fair chance of fighting the Brewers.
Ryan Braun continued to impress on the plate going into the postseason as he unleashed yet another home-run 429-feet down centre-field. Nyjer Morgan replicated Braun’s effort in the seventh inning to complete the four runs for Milwaukee.
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