Brewers bash way past Cardinals, Bauers and Turang power Milwaukee to 8-4 victory

The Milwaukee Brewers came to St. Louis on Thursday and reminded the Cardinals exactly why they’re the class of the NL Central right now. A methodical, power-laden assault that began in the second inning and never let up produced an 8-4 victory that felt far more decisive than the final margin suggests. This wasn’t a nail-biter. This was a statement.

Brewers Strike Early, Strike Often

Andre Pallante looked overmatched from the jump, and frankly, he never recovered. The Milwaukee lineup came out hungry on Thursday, scratching across two runs in the second on back-to-back RBI singles from Sal Frelick and Cooper Pratt. But that was merely appetizer. In the third inning, the Brewers turned up the heat with a pair of hits that set up Jake Bauers‘ eventual three-run bomb, a scorching line drive to right that made it 6-0 before the Cardinals could even blink.

Pallante’s night mercifully ended after five innings, having surrendered six earned runs on eight hits. Two walks didn’t help matters. The Cardinals’ offense, meanwhile, was puttering around like a lawnmower running on fumes. They managed to scratch out a run in the fourth on Lars Nootbaar’s single, then got a bit of hope in the sixth when Jordan Walker clobbered a three-run shot to make it 6-4. For a moment, you could feel the momentum shift at Busch Stadium.

That moment lasted approximately as long as it took Brice Turang to reach the plate in the seventh inning. The Brewers’ dynamic infielder launched a solo shot to center field that extended the lead back to three and effectively killed whatever rally the Cardinals thought they had brewing. Milwaukee’s pitching was solid enough the rest of the way, with Aaron Ashby navigating some eighth-inning trouble and Abner Uribe nailing down the save.

Turang and Bauers Carry the Load

If the Brewers are going to compete for anything meaningful in October, they need performances like Thursday’s from their core pieces. Brice Turang went 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs, proving once again he’s evolved into far more than just a defensive wizard up the middle. Jake Bauers was even more impressive, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs and that thunderous three-run shot in the third.

Logan Henderson, the winning pitcher, wasn’t flashy but got the job done over 5.1 innings of work. Four strikeouts and just three earned runs allowed. It’s not a Cy Young-caliber line, but it’s exactly what you need when your lineup is putting up eight runs.

The Cardinals’ effort was respectable in patches, especially Jordan Walker’s power display, but it was ultimately a night of too little, too late. Oliver Marmol’s team had no answer for Milwaukee’s early onslaught, and once the Brewers got comfortable, there was no climbing back into this one. On Thursday night at Busch Stadium, the Brewers looked like a team that knows exactly who they are and what they’re capable of doing. The Cardinals looked like they were just trying to keep up. That’s the difference between contenders and pretenders in this league.