ST. LOUIS (AP) - Randal Grichuk made two key plays and Adam Wainwright pitched eight strong innings to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 on Saturday night.
Grichuk made a perfect throw to the plate to cut down Jake Elmore trying to score from second in the eighth. Then he doubled in the bottom half, helping clear the way for a five-run rally. Matt Adam drove in the tying run with a grounder to second and Grichuk scored on Kolten Wong's single, giving St. Louis a 2-1 lead.
Wainwright (11-8) struck out seven and allowed six hits in his most impressive outing since he shut out San Diego on July 21. He was helped by double plays in the second and seventh and Grichuk's throw in the eighth.
Keon Broxton's 429-foot homer in the fifth gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. The Brewers have homered in eight straight games.
Brewers starter Chase Anderson (9-11) allowed three hits and walked two in 5 2/3 innings. He was coming off five shutout innings against Pittsburgh last Sunday.
Carlos Torres followed Anderson with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, but Corey Knebel (1-3) and Jhan Marinez faltered in the eighth. After Wong's single, Stephen Piscotty doubled home two more runs and Yadier Molina added an RBI single.
EARLY EXIT
Brewers first baseman Hernan Perez was ejected by home plate umpire Carlos Torres after taking a called strike three to end the top of the eighth, stranding the bases loaded. Perez tossed his helmet and bat and voiced his displeasure with the call. After the ejection, he ran to the plate and made a kicking motion near the batter's box indicating where he thought the pitch was.
WEB GEMS
Wong, playing second for the Cardinals, made a whirling throw to start a 4-6-3 double play in the second inning and he made a diving play to throw out Jonathan Villar to end the third.
TRAINING ROOM
Cardinals: RHP Trevor Rosenthal (right shoulder inflammation) threw live batting practice. . RHP Michael Wacha (right shoulder inflammation) is expected to throw live batting practice Monday. . SS Aledmys Diaz (right thumb fracture) went 0 for 5 in Double-A Springfield's season-ending loss to NW Arkansas.
UP NEXT
Brewers: RHP Zach Davies (10-7, 4.01 ERA) gets the ball on Sunday. He has made a team-high 14 quality starts. He is 1-0 with a 1.88 ERA in two starts against St. Louis this season.
Cardinals: RHP Luke Weaver (1-2, 3.96 ERA) pitches for St. Louis on Sunday. He has 22 strikeouts in his last three starts.
GAME VIDEO