St. Louis Cardinals Close Series Vs. Brewers Sunday

Jaime Garcia's near-no-hitter was followed a day later by Yovani Gallardo's—not to mention Justin Verlander picking up the real thing—so it's anyone's guess what will happen in Sunday's game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, where fifth starters Chris Narveson and Kyle McClellan are scheduled to face off against two teams starved for a little offense. 

On Friday the Cardinals watched Jaime Garcia take a perfect game into the eighth inning, but after a consecutive walk and single he got out of the inning and picked up his second complete game shutout of the year, which Cardinals brass will just have to live with. 

The Brewers' 4-0 win over the Cardinals came at the expense of an excellent performance from Kyle Lohse, who allowed one run in eight innings of work. Gallardo's no-hitter—he walked four—was broken up by Daniel Descalso, who singled in the eighth inning. For the Brewers the win, which broke up an unpleasant losing streak, was important, but having Gallardo back in the saddle might be more important still—he lowered his ERA almost a run with eight scoreless innings, all the way... to 5.11. 

St. Louis Cardinals Follow Up Near-Perfection Vs. Brewers Saturday

Kyle Lohse, having a strong season in his own right, will have the unenviable task Saturday afternoon of following up Jaime Garcia's near-perfect game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night when the St. Louis Cardinals play the second game of their weekend series against Milwaukee, scheduled for a 3:10 start. He'll go against Yovani Gallardo, the Brewers' struggling ace, who's 2-2 with a 6.10 ERA and a lower-than-usual strikeout rate. 

Lance Berkman, who sat against left-hander Randy Wolf on Friday and in anticipation, perhaps, of the day games this weekend, should be back in the lineup. Ryan Theriot, who left Friday's game with a shin contusion after being hit by a pitch, singled the at-bat after receiving the bruise, so he's presumably day-to-day at worst. 

Lohse, whose own shin was bruised by a comebacker in his last start, looks to recover from his worst start of the season, a six inning loss to the Florida Marlins in which he allowed five runs on two home runs and three walks, bumping his ERA from 1.64 to 2.44. 

Jaime Garcia's Perfect Game Ruined By Twitter, SB Nation St. Louis Staff

Jaime Garcia's Near-Perfect Game Paces St. Louis Cardinals Vs. Brewers

Jaime Garcia was perfect into the eighth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals scored early and often to take the first of their three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Garcia struck out eight and picked up 16 swinging strikes against a Brewers team that simply couldn’t see his changeup or slider all night. Colby Rasmus tripled and Albert Pujols drove in three to put the final score at 6-0.

Garcia yielded his first baserunner of the night in the eighth inning, when Casey McGehee drew a walk, and the no-hitter was broken up a batter later when Yuniesky Betancourt slapped one through the infield for an uncontested base hit. But Garcia, after falling behind the next batter, forced a full count and then induced a ground-ball double play to end the inning. By the time the ninth inning rolled around Garcia was as dominant as ever. He improves to 4-0 on the season, with an ERA of just 1.99.

The two-hitter is Garcia’s second complete-game shutout of the season; he threw a four-hitter with nine strikeouts in his first start of 2011.

Jaime Garcia Loses Perfect Game, No-Hitter In Eighth Inning

Jaime Garcia, the St. Louis Cardinals’ dominant young left-hander, took a perfect game into the eighth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night, then lost the no-hitter in the next at-bat. But Garcia kept on top of the Brewers, inducing a double play to get out of the inning against the next batter he faced.

Garcia’s changeup and slider were astounding Friday, keeping the Brewers off-balance to the tune of eight strikeouts, but it was his command that stood out from his performances earlier in the season; until the seventh inning Garcia seemed perpetually ahead of the Brewers, and once he’d done that the Brewers had significant problems catching his off-speed pitches.

Garcia, who surprised by making the Cardinals’ rotation out of Spring Training in 2010, just a year after recovering from elbow surgery, went 13-8 with a 2.70 ERA in his rookie season, and has excelled in 2011 after Adam Wainwright’s injury required him to play a larger role. 2010 saw him is improvement in 2011 has come from a changeup that has fallen away from right-handers with an alarming consistency.

The Cardinals’ last no-hitter was thrown by 21-year-old left-hander Bud Smith, in 2001.

St. Louis Cardinals Take On Milwaukee Brewers In Weekend Series

The St. Louis Cardinals will get a look at one of their top division rivals Friday when the Milwaukee Brewers, on a skid that has them 13-18, visit Busch Stadium for a three-game set that includes day games on Saturday and Sunday. Friday night begins with a left-handed duel scheduled between Randy Wolf, Jaime Garcia, and Inigo Montoya, who is not left-handed; on Saturday afternoon Kyle Lohse will take on beleaguered Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo; and Sunday at 1:15 Kyle McClellan will take on one-time Cardinals farmhand Chris Narveson, who was traded for Larry Walker back in 2004 and has only recently carved out a big league niche. 

Garcia, Lohse, and McClellan have each had rough starts lately after sterling Aprils, but of the six pitchers who will appear in this series, only Randy Wolf has been on anything resembling a hot streak; Gallardo has an ERA of 6.10 and Narveson has allowed 17 earned runs in his last two starts. 

For the Cardinals all eyes will be on Albert Pujols, who seems at the edge of breaking out of his second slump of the 2011 season. He went 3-3 with a walk against Josh Johnson and the Florida Marlins on Thursday.