Michael Wacha returns, St. Louis Cardinals defeat Milwaukee Brewers

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Michael Wacha finally returned to the St. Louis Cardinals rotation and the Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in a 3-2 win.

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Wacha didn’t pitch for long but that doesn’t matter in the short-term. What matters is that the Cardinals helped contribute to the Brewers self-implosion as we get closer to the end of the season. The Cardinals have won six in a row as the Brewers have suffered nine straight losses. The Cardinals left Thursday night with a four game advantage in the division over the Brewers.

In three innings, Wacha allowed one run on three hits. He walked one and struck out three batters.

The Cardinals bullpen saw a lot of activity tonight. Marco Gonzales, the 2013 first round pick, was essentially the second starter for the Cardinals on Thursday. The Gonzaga alumnus pitched 2.1 innings and picked up his second MLB win. He allowed one run on two hits. He struck out two batters.

Jason Motte, Seth Maness, Carlos Martinez, and Pat Neshek combined to pitch the next few innings and all picked up holds. Trevor Rosenthal was in there to pitch the ninth inning. He walked two and struck out a batter but managed to record his 42nd save of the season.

The Cardinals led off the game with back to back singles from Matt Carpenter and Jon Jay. Yadier Molina drove in both of them on a single to left.

In the third inning, Kolten Wong drove in Matt Holliday on a single to left.

Carpenter and Holliday had three hits a piece. Jay and Wong added a pair of hits. Molina and Peter Bourjos also had hits for St. Louis.

The Cardinals have played in 48 one-run games this season, winning 28 of them.