Final
Molina hits a grand slam, Cardinals beat Brewers
Sep 6, 2010 - 10:22 PMVideo
Instead, Molina's grand slam capped a six-run eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals overcame Corey Hart's two homers to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-6 on Monday.
The Cardinals had taken a 4-2 lead in the eighth, and Molina came up with the bases loaded and one out.
"All the way through that at-bat I was thinking flyball," he said. "You never want to hit a ground ball there, never. I was just trying to hit a flyball to get that man in."
Molina sent a 1-2 pitch from Todd Coffey into the left-field stands for his sixth homer of the year to give the Cardinals an 8-2 lead.
St. Louis needed that big inning as Milwaukee scored four times in the final two innings, and had Prince Fielder at the plate as the tying run with two outs in the ninth. Ryan Franklin got him to ground out to end the game.
"We got touched up a little bit at the end, but we got the outs - everybody got the outs - when we needed it," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said.
The Cardinals won for the third time in four games. They began the day trailing NL Central leader Cincinnati by seven games.
"From now on, we have to win, that's a rule," Molina said. "We can't go back. We've got to do it. We've got to win some games."
Mitchell Boggs (2-2) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win.
Milwaukee starter Yovani Gallardo bounced back from three consecutive poor starts to pitch seven solid innings, but St. Louis erupted against three relievers.
With one out in the eighth, John Jay was hit by a pitch from Zach Braddock (1-2).
Jeremy Jeffress, one of the top prospects in the Brewers' system, was then summoned to make his Miller Park debut. The right-hander got Albert Pujols to hit what could've been an inning-ending double play, but it bounced off third baseman Casey McGehee's glove for an error.
"It was another winnable game but no execution when things are on the line," Milwaukee manager Ken Macha said.
Matt Holliday's single put the Cardinals ahead, Colby Rasmus was intentionally walked to load the bases and Coffey replaced Jeffress.
Pedro Feliz hit the first pitch from Coffey for a single, making it 4-2. Molina's slam then gave the Cardinals what they thought was a comfortable lead.
"I didn't get the job done," Coffey said. "I get the job done out there, we win the game. I come in with the bases loaded I've got to get it done."
The Brewers pulled within 8-4 in the bottom half on an RBI single by McGehee and an RBI double by Alcides Escobar.
Hart hit his 26th and 27th home runs. Rickie Weeks hit his 26th for Milwaukee.
Hart's second homer brought the Brewers within 8-6 with two outs in the ninth off Franklin.
St. Louis starter Jake Westbrook pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits.
Gallardo had allowed 20 runs in 14 2-3 innings over his past three starts. The right-hander pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits.
Notes: It was Molina's second career grand slam. His other came on opening day this year in an 11-6 win over Cincinnati. ... Jeffress pitched a scoreless inning during his major league debut last week in Cincinnati. ... For the second time in as many day games the Brewers hung two panels over a portion of right-field to diminish the effects of the daytime shadows at Miller Park. The roof was closed completely in the eighth as rain approached. ... It was the first run allowed by Braddock in his last 14 appearances, spanning 9 2-3 innings. ... After the game, the Brewers recalled INF Luis Cruz and RHP Brandon Kintzler from Triple-A Nashville.
- Brewers 6, Cardinals 8 - FINAL
ST LOUIS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
S Schumaker 2b 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .270
vb-F Lopez ph-2b 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .236
J Jay rf 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 .323
A Pujols 1b 3 2 1 1 1 1 0 .309
M Holliday lf 4 1 1 1 0 1 2 .303
C Rasmus cf 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 .266
P Fel
Sep 6 5:13 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY COREY HART (27) TO CENTER WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 9TH OFF RYAN FRANKLIN SCORED JONATHAN LUCROY.
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 8, MILWAUKEE 6
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: R BRAUN (.303, 2-FOR-4)
Cardinals 8, Brewers 6 Bot 9, 0 OutsSep 6 5:04 PM - #1 Cards Fan I got an idea...get McClellan off the damn mound!
Cardinals 8, Brewers 4 Bot 8, 0 OutsSep 6 4:46 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY ALCIDES ESCOBAR SCORED PRINCE FIELDER
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, A ESCOBAR ON SECOND, C MCGEHEE ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 8
MILWAUKEE 4 BOTTOM,8TH
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: J LUCROY (.259, 0-FOR-3)
Cardinals 8, Brewers 4 Bot 8, 0 OutsSep 6 4:45 PM - #1 Cards Fan I'm a little sick of this pisspoor bullpen the Cardinals have.
Cardinals 8, Brewers 3 Bot 8, 0 OutsSep 6 4:43 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY CASEY MCGEHEE SCORED COREY HART
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C MCGEHEE ON FIRST, P FIELDER ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 8
MILWAUKEE 3 BOTTOM,8TH
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: L CAIN (.275, 0-FOR-3)
Cardinals 8, Brewers 3 Bot 8, 0 OutsSep 6 4:42 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
GRAND SLAM BY YADIER MOLINA (6) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
8TH OFF TODD COFFEY SCORED PEDRO FELIZ, COLBY RASMUS AND MATT
HOLLIDAY.
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 8, MILWAUKEE 2
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: B RYAN (.217, 0-FOR-3)
Cardinals 8, Brewers 2 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 6 4:26 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY PEDRO FELIZ SCORED ALBERT PUJOLS
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, P FELIZ ON FIRST, C RASMUS ON SECOND, M
HOLLIDAY ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 4
MILWAUKEE 2 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: Y MOLINA (.254, 1-FOR-3)
Cardinals 4, Brewers 2 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 6 4:24 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MATT HOLLIDAY SCORED JON JAY
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M HOLLIDAY ON FIRST, A PUJOLS ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 3
MILWAUKEE 2 TOP,8TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: C RASMUS (.266, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Cardinals 3, Brewers 2 Top 8, 0 OutsSep 6 4:19 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
WILD PITCH BY YOVANI GALLARDO ALLOWED ALBERT PUJOLS TO
SCORE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C RASMUS ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 2
MILWAUKEE 2 TOP,6TH
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: P FELIZ (.223, 0-FOR-2)
Cardinals 2, Brewers 2 Top 6, 0 OutsSep 6 3:41 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY COREY HART (26) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 5TH OFF JAKE WESTBROOK.
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 1, MILWAUKEE 2
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: R BRAUN (.302, 1-FOR-2)
Cardinals 1, Brewers 2 Bot 5, 0 OutsSep 6 3:25 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY RICKIE WEEKS (26) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 2
OUT IN THE 3RD OFF JAKE WESTBROOK.
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 1, MILWAUKEE 1
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: C HART (.278, 0-FOR-1)
Cardinals 1, Brewers 1 Bot 3, 0 OutsSep 6 2:54 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
ST LOUIS 1 1 1 0
MILWAUKEE 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: STL - JAKE WESTBROOK
MIL - YOVANI GALLARDO
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: R WEEKS (.270, 25 HR, 76 RBI)
C HART (.279, 25 HR, 85 RBI)
R BRAUN (.301, 19 HR, 80 RBI)
Cardinals 1, Brewers 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsSep 6 2:15 PM
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