MILWAUKEE — Wednesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 10, Brewers 2
During their current winning streak, the Cardinals have won games with their power. They have won games utilizing their team speed.
They made it 11 consecutive wins on Wednesday night by using both.
Tyler O’Neill’s two-run homer in the first inning got the offense started before Harrison Bader scored – from second base – on a two-RBI sacrifice fly from Tommy Edman in a four-run second, more than a big enough cushion for Miles Mikolas to cruise to the win.
With the Reds rained out on Wednesday, the Cardinals gained a half-game in the battle for the second wild-card spot and now lead that race by 4 ½ games, five in the loss column. They have 11 games left in the regular season.
It’s the first time the Cardinals have won 11 games in a row since 2001 and is their longest winning streak ever in September. In franchise history they have had only three streaks in which they won more than 11 games – the team-record 14 game streak in 1935 and 12-game streaks in 1982 and 1943.
During these last 11 games, the Cardinals have either had the lead or been tied in 88 of 101 innings. They have trailed after the sixth inning in only one of those games, the game on Saturday against the Padres which they won on O’Neill’s three-run homer in the eighth inning.
As has been the case in many games in the streak, getting the lead in the first inning once again got the Cardinals started. They have outscored their opponents 20-2 in the first inning in their last 11 games.
Here is how Wednesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: O’Neill’s homer was his 29th of the season. The Cardinals also got a long two-run bomb from Paul Goldschmidt, his 27th of the year, that capped their scoring in the eighth … O’Neill also had an RBI double in the second and Nolan Arenado had two RBIs with a double and a sacrifice fly, raising his season total to 103 … The top four hitters in the lineup were a combined 8-of-16 with nine RBIs and seven runs scored, four of which were scored by Goldschmidt … Arenado had to come out of the game after the fifth inning because of lower back tightness.
On the mound: Mikolas had his best start of the season, allowing two runs on four hits in his seven innings, the most he has worked in a game since 2019. He retired 11 of the first 12 hitters he faced and did not walk a batter … Justin Miller and Andrew Miller pitched the final two innings.
Key stat: O’Neill’s homer was his eighth in September, with eight games left in the month. Matt Carpenter was the last Cardinal to hit eight homers in September, in 2015, and the last player with more than eight in the final month for the Cardinals was Albert Pujols with nine in 2006.
Worth noting: The Cardinals officially said Jack Flaherty will start the night game of Friday’s doubleheader in Chicago, although he likely won’t pitch more than two innings … Dakota Hudson was scratched from his scheduled start for Memphis on Wednesday night in Jacksonville and the team said it will weigh its needs in the next few days to decide if he will start a game for the Triple A team or rejoin the Cardinals in Chicago … Daniel Ponce de Leon, who was designated for assignment on Monday, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Memphis.
Looking ahead: Adam Wainwright will start the final game of the series on Thursday as the Cardinals try to complete the sweep of the four-game series. The game, which begins at 1:10 p.m., will be available only on YouTube.tv.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains