5 stars for St. Louis Cardinals in series split with Brewers

The Cardinals had many ups and downs as they split their series with NL Central rival Milwaukee Brewers.

The St. Louis Cardinals remained tied atop the NL Central after splitting a four-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Brewers took Monday’s game 2-0. The Cardinals won on Tuesday 6-2 and Wednesday 5-4. The Brewers took Thursday’s game 6-4. The series was incredibly competitive with several players stepping up to the occasion.

That occasion was a series that could have led to a substantial lead for one team atop the NL Central. Instead, the two teams fought it out, split the series, and remain tied for the NL Central lead. While Cardinals fans would have preferred a sweep of the Brewers, it just wasn’t in the cards, so to speak.

The Cardinals desperately needed dominant performances from their starters in this series but were met with huge disappointment.

After almost throwing a no-hitter in his last outing, Miles Mikolas is now 5-5 on the season with his loss Monday. Mikolas pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four hits, two walks, and two earned runs. He gave up a home run to Tyrone Taylor. He struck out three batters and induced seven swings and misses.

Brewers ace Corbin Burnes out-dueled Mikolas as he pitched seven innings and strike out ten batters, whilst inducing 20 swings and misses.  In equal disappointment, the Cardinals offense just could not get anything going against Burnes.

In his second start of the season, Jack Flaherty pitched three innings, giving up three hits, five walks and two earned runs. He gave up a home run to Willy Adames. He struck out one and induced four swings and misses. He got a no-decision in the cause.

Andrew Knizner is not the Adam Wainwright whisperer that Yadier Molina has been. Knizner got Wainwright for a second straight start on Wednesday. In a no decision, Wainwright pitched 4.2 innings giving up seven hits, one walk, and four runs, including home runs to Rowdy Tellez and Andrew McCutchen. He did strike out seven batters and induced six swings and misses.

Dakota Hudson earned his fourth loss of the season on Thursday. He pitched 4.1 innings, giving up seven hits, three walks and five earned runs, including giving up home runs to Tyrone Taylor and Willy Adamez. Hudson did strike out two and induced seven swings and misses.

Junior Fernandez pitched 1.2 innings, givin gup a walk and striking out two while inducing two swings and misses. He topped out at a velocity of 100.1 mph. Drew VerHagen had a rough appearance in relief, not getting a single out. He gave up a hit, two walks and a run. Nick Wittgren pitched an inning of relief, striking out one.

The Cardinals head back to St. Louis to play a key series against another NL Central rival, the Chicago Cubs. The long-time foes facing off in a three-game set should be as exciting as usual.

Now let’s take a look at the players who stood out for the Cardinals in the Brewers series.