MILWAUKEE — The Cardinals woke from their nightmare, and outfielder Michael Siani’s RBI double provided the final jolt to shake them from their torturous slumber.
Siani belted an RBI double that bounced off the top of the outfield wall and back into play, missing a home run by a little more than an inch, and drove in the deciding run in the Cardinals’ 4-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the finale of a four-game series Sunday afternoon at American Family Field.
The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Cardinals (16-24), and it also brought a stop to an eight-game losing streak against the division-rival Brewers. The victory also came on a day when the Cardinals' manager and bench coach were ejected in the third inning.
Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt went 2 for 5 with a home run and two RBIs, while Siani (2 for 4) and Ivan Herrera (2 for 5) also had multi-hit games. Lars Nootbaar walked twice, including one walk that drove in a run.
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Starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (3-5) gave up all three runs he allowed in the first inning. He yielded six hits and three walks in six innings.
The Cardinals’ relief trio of JoJo Romero (1⅓ innings), Andrew Kittredge (⅔ innings) and Ryan Helsley allowed just one batter to reach base in the final three innings to close out the win. Helsley earned his 12th save in 13 opportunities.
The Cardinals will continue their road trip and begin a three-game series Monday night in Anaheim, California, against the Los Angeles Angels.
Early exit for Marmol, Descalso
Home plate umpire and crew chief Alan Porter ejected Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and first-year bench coach Daniel Descalso with two outs in the top of the third inning following the second successful replay challenge by the Cardinals.
Descalso, who relays information from the video room to Marmol on whether to challenge close plays, got ejected for apparently voicing frustration about the umpiring.
The Cardinals had just gotten a double play overturned when replay showed catcher Ivan Herrera beat out a throw at first base as the Brewers attempted to turn two.
That marked the second call overturned in the Cardinals' favor at first base after they’d successfully challenged a safe call in the second inning with the Cardinals in the field.
Both calls were made by first base umpire Sean Barber.
Porter ejected Descalso, and Marmol darted out of the dugout to confront Porter. Shortly after Marmol came out onto the field, Porter ejected Marmol as well. At one point, both Marmol and Descalso were on the field yelling at Porter.
Following the ejection, hitting coach Turner Ward took over the lineup card, and pitching coach Dusty Blake made the trip to the mound for a pitching change with one out in the eighth inning.
Different look for Cardinals
The pink gear worn by players in recognition of Mother’s Day wasn’t the only difference in the way the Cardinals looked on the field. Marmol shuffled the lineup for the final game of the series as they tried to shake out of their recent funk.
All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado got the day off for the first time this season. He’d been the lone Cardinals player to play in all 39 games of the season through Saturday.
Brendan Donovan started at third base in Arenado’s place, while Brandon Crawford started at shortstop for the eighth time this season. With Donovan on the infield, Alec Burleson started in left field with Michael Siani in center field and Lars Nootbaar in right field.
The only right-handed hitters in the Cardinals lineup were Goldschmidt and Herrera.
Left-handed designated hitter Matt Carpenter batted leadoff, and he reached base in each of his first two plate appearances with a single and a walk.
Early test of will for Mikolas
Mikolas threw 42 pitches in a three-run first inning for the Brewers that featured two walks and two hits. Mikolas did not hide his displeasure with the strike zone, gesturing with his hands out to his side after one walk and barking toward Porter behind the plate after another.
Four consecutive batters reached base with one out in the first thanks to a William Contreras single, a Christian Yelich walk, a fielder’s choice on a slow roller to shortstop where Crawford couldn’t record the out at second base, and a bases-loaded walk by the Brewers' Saturday night hero Rhys Hoskins.
Both walks featured borderline pitches, but the final pitch to Hoskins appeared clearly inside the top of the zone on the television broadcast. The Hoskins walk forced in the game’s first run; then, Joey Ortiz’s ground out to second base drove in a second run.
Gary Sanchez singled to left field to drive in a third run, but Burleson threw out Hoskins trying to score from second base.
Goldy’s bat makes an impact
The Cardinals scored their first run in the second inning thanks to a bases-loaded walk by Nootbaar, but Goldschmidt’s fly ball to right field ended that inning and left the bases loaded.
The Cardinals left five men on base in the first two innings and scored just one run.
Thew Brewers, who scored three runs in the first inning, led 3-1 going into the fifth inning when Goldschmidt mashed an elevated 1-2 fastball over the left-center field wall for his third home run of the season. The homer, Goldschmidt’s first since April 22 in Arizona, pulled the Cardinals within a run 3-2.
In the sixth inning, Goldschmidt tied the scored with a two-out single to left field that drove in Siani and made the score 3-3.
Goldschmidt’s single in the ninth inning of Saturday night’s game snapped a career-worst 0-for-32 hitless stretch.