Nolan Arenado homered in his fourth straight game and Nolan Gorman had a career-high five RBIs to lead the St Louis Cardinals over the Milwaukee Brewers 18-1 on Monday night for their season-best fourth win in a row.
Andrew Knizner hit his first career grand slam in a 10-run eighth after entering as a pinch runner earlier in the inning, which began with Tommy Edman homering. It was the most runs scored by the Cardinals in one inning since the first inning of Game 5 of the 2019 National League Championship Series.
St Louis tied their season high with 16 hits. Following an eight-game losing streak that dropped the Cardinals to 10-24, St Louis have won seven of eight.
Photo: Jeff Curry-USA Today
“It’s a lot more fun and you sleep a lot better at night,” Arenado said. “When you put a lot of work in and it doesn’t click, it gets frustrating. So, when you put a lot of work in and it comes into fruition like it has the last few days, it feels good, and you know that the work you’re putting in is not wrong.”
Willson Contreras returned behind the plate for his first appearance at catcher since May 5. Signed by the Cardinals as a free agent on a five-year US$87.5 million contract, he was used as a designated hitter for 10 days because of defensive concerns.
“He was awesome tonight, and you know, just the way he’s gone about his business and just DH-ing for a while and then to get back in there and to call the game the way he did and to catch the way he did tonight was just a testament to how he is as a player,” Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty said.
Conteras went 0 for 4 with a walk.
“I was just putting my focus on staying on the same page with Flaherty,” Contreras said. “I think whatever passed in the last few days, I didn’t think about it. Those are things that I can’t control. The only thing that I can control is to be the best version of Willson Contreras and that’s what did I tonight.”
Flaherty (3-4) allowed three hits in seven innings and struck out 10 in his 10th career double-digit strikeout game.
“I thought he was just really tough on our right-handed hitters,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “None of our right-handed hitters had any good swings.”
The 27-year-old right-hander had not pitched seven innings since May 7, 2021.
“That was one of the best outings I’ve ever seen him have and he just seemed to control the game,” Arenado said.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said it was as dominant as Flaherty has been all season.
“We couldn’t have scripted any better,” Marmol said.
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