Cardinals Dismantle Brewers Behind Burleson’s Bat, McGreevy’s Arm

The Milwaukee Brewers came to Busch Stadium on Wednesday looking to make noise in the division, but instead they left with their tails between their legs after a thoroughly professional spanking at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals. Final score: 5-1, Cardinals. This wasn’t a game. This was a clinic in how to dismantle a division rival when the baseball gods smile upon you and your pitcher actually shows up ready to work.

Let’s start with the elephant in the room: Kyle Harrison was absolutely horrible for the Brewers. Four innings pitched, four hits allowed, three earned runs surrendered. That’s not just bad, that’s insulting. You cannot expect to win a baseball game, let alone a road game against a rival, when your starting pitcher can’t make it out of the fourth inning. This was supposed to be a competitive matchup, but Harrison made it abundantly clear that competitive was the last thing on his agenda Wednesday night. The Brewers’ front office has to be asking serious questions about what went wrong in their rotation preparation.

Meanwhile, Michael McGreevy showed everyone what a real starting pitcher looks like. Six and one-third innings of work, five hits, just one earned run allowed, six strikeouts, and control that would make a sniper jealous. One walk in over six innings of work. That’s the kind of efficiency that wins ballgames and builds playoff teams. McGreevy wasn’t throwing 100 mph heat or painting black with a slider that defies physics. He was doing what great pitchers do: trusting his stuff, attacking the zone, and making hitters uncomfortable without beating himself. The man earned his W, and no one should argue the point.

The Cardinals’ offense was workmanlike and efficient, which is perhaps the most damning compliment you can give in a blowout. They didn’t need to explode for seven runs or blow the doors off Busch Stadium. They simply took what the Brewers’ pitching staff gave them and manufactured enough runs to win comfortably. Alec Burleson was the star of this show, going 2 for 4 with two doubles and a homer for three RBIs total. That’s a night’s work right there. José Fermín contributed with a solo shot in the fourth, and Jordan Walker reached base twice, driving in a run with his own double. These weren’t spectacular performances, but they were exactly what was needed.

The Brewers managed just one run, and it came in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly by Cooper Pratt scoring Garrett Mitchell. Frankly, that run felt like a participation trophy. By that point, the game had already been decided by the dominant Cardinals pitching and timely hitting early in the contest. The Cardinals jumped all over Harrison in the first inning alone, plating two runs before the Brewers had even logged an out, and that proved to be the ballgame right there.

This was baseball at its most straightforward: one team executed, one team didn’t, and the scoreboard did the talking. The Cardinals proved Wednesday night why they’re serious contenders, while the Brewers left Busch Stadium with more questions than answers about their rotation depth and their ability to hang with the elite teams in this league.