Jackson Chourio sparks six-run cushion as Brewers hold off Cardinals 6-4

Milwaukee made its case before the fifth

The Brewers built the game in layers. They struck for three runs in the first inning, added two more on Sánchez’s 355-foot homer in the third, and pushed the lead to 6-0 in the fourth when Chourio singled home David Hamilton. By the time St. Louis finally broke through, Milwaukee had already banked the margin it needed.

The opening inning established the pattern. Chourio lined a single to centre to bring home Garrett Mitchell and send Jake Bauers to third. Brice Turang followed with an infield single that scored Bauers, and Christian Yelich added another run with a single to left that brought Chourio home. It was not a power inning, but it was an efficient one, and it gave Milwaukee control of the afternoon almost immediately.

That control only tightened against Andre Pallante. The Cardinals right-hander worked five innings, but Milwaukee collected 10 hits and six runs against him while drawing just one walk. Chourio kept turning up in the middle of the action, scoring twice and driving in two, while Sánchez supplied the one big extra-base blow. Eight Brewers finished with at least one hit, a broad enough spread to keep the lineup moving even without a barrage of extra-base contact.

A quiet seven innings, then a very loud eighth

For most of the day, Milwaukee’s pitching gave the Cardinals very little to work with. Jacob Misiorowski covered 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while striking out five. DL Hall followed with 1.2 scoreless frames of his own, and together they carried a two-hit shutout through seven innings. St. Louis was drawing some traffic with walks, but hard contact was scarce for most of the game.

The eighth changed the texture of the scoreline in a hurry. Jordan Walker reached on a fielder’s choice, and a throwing error by shortstop Cooper Pratt allowed César Prieto to score the Cardinals’ first run. Later in the inning, Leo Bernal turned the rally into real pressure with a 397-foot homer to right, scoring Walker and Ivan Herrera and cutting Milwaukee’s lead to 6-4.

That outburst landed on Chad Patrick, who was charged with four runs in one-third of an inning. Milwaukee still found the final outs it needed, though, as Shane Drohan handled the last 1.2 innings without allowing a run and struck out two. The escape mattered because St. Louis, despite finishing with only four hits, had already shown it could manufacture a threat with five walks and 11 runners left on base.

Our take: enough offence early, but both clubs left room to sharpen up

From Milwaukee’s side, this was a useful reminder that sequencing can carry a lineup even on a day with limited slugging. The Brewers scored six times with 10 hits, but only one of those hits went for extra bases. That is the encouraging part: they did not need a home-run barrage to put up a winning total. The caution is that the offence went quiet after the fourth and left 10 runners on base, which helped turn a comfortable afternoon into a tense finish.

Chourio was the clearest difference-maker. His three-hit day touched every phase of Milwaukee’s attack: he drove in the first run, scored in the first, came home again on Sánchez’s homer, and added the sixth run with another RBI single in the fourth. Sánchez delivered the biggest swing, but Chourio was the player who kept the innings connected. When a game has several scoring moments without a flood of extra-base hits, that kind of repeat contribution tends to define it.

For St. Louis, the late rally was real but also revealing. Bernal did heavy lifting with a three-run homer and two walks, yet the rest of the lineup combined for only three hits in 28 at-bats. The Cardinals struck out eight times, grounded into a double play and stranded 11 runners. Drawing five walks gave them enough opportunity to make the game interesting, but not enough sustained contact to erase the damage from Milwaukee’s first four innings. In the end, that early deficit told the whole story.

Scoring moments

1. 1st Inning

   Chourio singled to center, Mitchell scored, Bauers to third.

2. 1st Inning

   Turang reached on infield single to second, Bauers scored, Chourio to second.

3. 1st Inning

   Yelich singled to left, Chourio scored, Sánchez to second.

4. 3rd Inning

   Sánchez homered to right (355 feet), Chourio scored.

5. 4th Inning

   Chourio singled to right, Hamilton scored, Mitchell to third.

6. 8th Inning

   Walker grounded into fielder's choice to second, Prieto scored on error, Pagés out at second, Walker safe at second on throwing error by shortstop Pratt.

7. 8th Inning

   Bernal homered to right (397 feet), Walker scored and Herrera scored.