Nolan Arenado hit a three-run double to spur the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-1 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.
Brendan Donovan (2-for-4, walk, two runs), Alec Burleson (3-for-4, run) and Thomas Saggese (1-for-2, two walks, two runs, RBI) also had big games for the Cardinals, who won for just the third time in 10 games.
Arenado’s big hit was part of a five-run rally in the fifth inning that capped the game’s scoring.
St. Louis starter Sonny Gray (14-8) allowed one run on nine hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked none.
Sal Frelick hit a homer for the Brewers (96-60), who had their three-game winning streak end. They remained six games ahead of the second-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central race.
Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski (5-3) needed 77 pitches to pitch 3 2/3 innings. He gave up two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out three.
Misiorowski walked Donovan and Ivan Herrera to start the bottom of the first inning. The Cardinals (75-79) cashed in for a 1-0 lead with Lars Nootbaar’s RBI single.
St. Louis doubled its lead to 2-0 in the second inning. Saggese walked, went to third on Pedro Pages’ single and scored on Jordan Walker’s double-play grounder.
Frelick’s third-inning homer cut the Cardinals’ lead to 2-1.
Donovan hit a double and moved to third on Burleson’s single in the bottom of the inning, but he was thrown out trying to steal home with two outs.
After Nootbaar was hit by pitch in the fourth inning, he moved up on Pages’ single and reached third on a flyout. Rob Zastryzny relieved Misiorowski and induced Victor Scott II’s inning-ending flyout.
The Cardinals blew the game open in the fifth inning.
Donovan, Herrera and Burleson hit singles to load the bases with no outs. Arenado greeted reliever Grant Anderson with a three-run double. Saggese hit a one-out RBI double, and with two outs, Walker delivered a run-scoring single.
–Field Level Media
