With the series tied 1-1 and shifting to St. Louis, game three saw a good pitching match-up in Yovani Gallardo vs. Chris Carpenter. There was pre-game interest revolving around Ron Roenicke’s decision to start Mark Kotsay in center-field for the Brewers, and bat his second, due to his career numbers against Carpenter (4-11 with a double and a walk – yeah, I don’t really get it). The move looked like it might pay off early, as Kotsay drew a first inning walk, but he ended the inning with a base-running blunder (getting doubled off of second on a flyball to center). In the bottom of the frame Kotsay missed a ball in center on a dive (which Carlos Gomez may indeed have caught).
That was quickly overshadowed by the Card’s putting a four-spot on the board against a Yovani Gallardo who had a bit of a hard time finding the strike-zone. He walked three in the inning (one intentionally), and gave up doubles to Jon Jay, Albert Pujols, and David Freese. The Cardinals ended up sending nine men to the plate in the inning. Up 4-0 with their best starter on the mound, things looked good for St. Louis.
The Brewers chipped away though, getting two runs in the second on three straight singles and a subsequent sac fly (by Gallardo). In the top of the third, Kotsay got his second plate appearances of the game, and he made a lot of the earlier jokes look kind of silly by taking Chris Carpenter deep, to cut the lead to 4-3. Kotsay has just 22 regular season home runs since 2007, in almost 1,500 PA… and he went yard against one of the major’s best pitchers. Nice hunch by Roenicke, I guess. Carp even walked Kotsay again his next time up, before the Cardinals’ relievers managed to retire him later. So yeah, Mark Kotsay – who hasn’t posted an OPS over .800 since 2004 – hit 1.000/1.000/4.000 against Chris Carpenter in three plate appearances. Post-season magic at its finest, though one could argue that Kotsay gave more runs away with his earlier misplays than he got back.
The game could have been a pitchers’ duel, but it almost ended up being a battle to see which starter could hold it together best. Gallardo settled down some after the especially rough first, but only managed to go five innings. His line was not what the Brewers wanted to see from him on the night; 8 H, 4 R, 5 BB, 2 K. Carpenter only last five innings as well, and was only marginally better; 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 3 K.
That brought the close game down to a battle of the bullpens, and both did their jobs. Milwaukee’s pen put up three scoreless innings, to keep them within striking-distance. Like with the starters though, St. Louis was just a touch better. They didn’t allow a baserunner over the game’s final four innings, with Jason Motte striking out 3 in picking up the four out save (while throwing some serious gas). The 4 runs from the first inning stood up.
With the win, the Cardinals go up two games to one on the Brewers and have a chance to close out the series at home over the next two days.
