Final
Suppan, Fielder lead Brewers in opener of 10-game homestand
May 1, 2007 - 3:46 AM MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- Jeff Suppan continues to make the St. Louis Cardinals pay for letting him walk.Suppan pitched his 16th career complete game and first in nearly four years and Prince Fielder doubled and homered as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cardinals, 7-1, on Monday in the opener of a 10-game homestand.
Kevin Mench added two hits and two RBI for Milwaukee, which plays four games with Pittsburgh and three with Washington after this three-game set.
On April 14, Suppan (4-2) beat the club he helped to the World Series title, allowing two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings, and was better this time around.
The righthander yielded eight hits and a walk with six strikeouts for his first complete game since July 28, 2003, to improve to 7-1 in 10 all-time starts at Miller Park.
"We really needed Suppan's complete game, with our bullpen as overworked as it is, it was big, really big, Brewers manager Ned Yost said.
The National League Championship Series MVP was allowed to become a free agent by St. Louis and signed a lucrative deal with Milwaukee.
"I'm not going to say it was easy, it's never easy," Suppan said. "It helps a lot when your team comes up with seven big ones for you, though."
Playing with heavy hearts after Sunday's game against the Chicago Cubs was postponed because of the death of reliever Josh Hancock, the Cardinals' bats continued to struggle.
"It was tough but I think everybody handled it," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "It finally hit me midway though the game that we're playing a little fuzzy right now. We need to sharpen our focus."
St. Louis managed just two extra-base hits and has scored three runs or fewer in 16 of its 24 games. The Cards' only run came in the third on a one-out double by David Eckstein and an RBI single by Chris Duncan.
"The last thing he (Hancock) would want us to do is walk around here with our heads down; he was a competitor," said Albert Pujols, who extended his season-high hitting streak to nine games with a first-inning single. We have to honor him and go out there and play hard, play the season in honor of him."
Milwaukee jumped on St. Louis starter Kip Wells in the first inning after the first two batters were retired. Fielder doubled, Bill Hall walked and Johnny Estrada doubled to deep right field, plating both for a 2-0 edge.
Wells' throwing error in the second on Mench's infield hit allowed the Brewers' outfielder to reach second. He stole third base and scored on a balk by Wells that restored a 3-1 edge.
Fielder belted his sixth homer of the season - his fourth in seven games - in the fourth to increase the edge to 4-1. Mench blew open the contest with a two-run triple in the sixth inning off the Cards' starter.
Wells (1-5), who was coming off his worst performance of the season, was charged with seven runs and six hits in six innings. The righthander was ripped for seven runs and nine hits in a 10-3 loss to Cincinnati in his last outing.
"Kip was getting ahead in the count, all the damage was done against him with two strikes and that comes down to execution," La Russa said.
Skip Schumaker tied a career high with three hits for the Cardinals, who have lost three straight.
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
ST LOUIS 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 1
MILWAUKEE 2 1 1 0 0 3 0 0 x 7 7 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: STL - KIP WELLS, DENNIS DOVE (7TH), TYLER JOHNSON (8TH), KELVIN
JIMENEZ (8TH) AND YADIER MOLINA
MIL - JEFF SUPPAN AND JOHNNY ESTRADA
HOME RUNS: STL - NONE
MIL - P
Apr 30 9:43 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
GROUND OUT BY TONY GRAFFANINO SCORED KEVIN MENCH.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, NONE ON, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 1
MILWAUKEE 7 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: J SUPPAN (.071, 0-FOR-2)
Cardinals vs. BrewersApr 30 8:56 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY KEVIN MENCH SCORED BILL HALL AND GEOFF JENKINS.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, K MENCH ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 1
MILWAUKEE 6 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: T GRAFFANINO (.224, 0-FOR-2)
Cardinals vs. BrewersApr 30 8:54 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY PRINCE FIELDER (6) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 3RD OFF KIP WELLS.
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 1, MILWAUKEE 4
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: B HALL (.235, 0-FOR-0, BB)
Cardinals vs. BrewersApr 30 8:05 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY CHRIS DUNCAN SCORED DAVID ECKSTEIN.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C DUNCAN ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 1
MILWAUKEE 3 TOP, 3RD
DUE UP FOR ST LOUIS: A PUJOLS (.256, 1-FOR-1)
Cardinals vs. BrewersApr 30 7:58 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
BALK BY KIP WELLS ALLOWED KEVIN MENCH TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, NONE ON, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 0
MILWAUKEE 3 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: T GRAFFANINO (.234, 0-FOR-0)
Cardinals vs. BrewersApr 30 7:41 PM - NL
AT MILWAUKEE - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY JOHNNY ESTRADA SCORED PRINCE FIELDER AND BILL
HALL.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J ESTRADA ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: ST LOUIS 0
MILWAUKEE 2 BOTTOM, 1ST
DUE UP FOR MILWAUKEE: G JENKINS (.348, 4 HR, 11 RBI)
Cardinals vs. BrewersApr 30 7:26 PM
Related News
- Tuesday Open Thread Dec 26
- Vote on the Cardinals next best prospect - 2024 Dec 25
- Cardinals in the Lab: Offseason Tracker Dec 24
- What Would You Do With $33M? (An Open Thread Discussion) Dec 23
- John Mozeliak has not closed the door on the Cardinals adding a starting pitcher Dec 22
- Vote on the Cardinals’ best prospect - 2024 Dec 21
- Brewers trade Adrian Houser, Tyrone Taylor to Mets Dec 20
- Brewers sign catcher Eric Haase Dec 20
- Let’s Argue! The Cardinals Lineup Dec 20
- Pulled Fly Balls: An Area For Growth Dec 19
- What would it take to get the Marlins’ pitchers? Dec 18
- Milwaukee Brewers Free Agent & Trade Targets: Outfield Dec 18