Cardinals Beat Marlins, Cubs Lose To Brewers

By ESPN

Luke Voit is living his childhood dream with his hometown St. Louis Cardinals.

And the Cardinals are reaping the benefits.

The rookie first baseman hit his second home run and drove in three runs to help the Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins 4-3 on Thursday.

"What a great day for Luke," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. " ... This kid continues to take great at-bats in big situations and it's hard not to have him in the lineup when he's swinging like he is."

Voit, who also doubled, started for the fourth consecutive day at first base. He has seven RBI during the month of July, tied for the team lead with outfielder Tommy Pham, and is hitting .333 through his first 11 games in the majors.

"I'm just trying to do my job and try to drive in runs, especially hitting in those key situations," Voit said. "I'm glad I'm helping the team win."

"He's been a game-changer so far," said Jedd Gyorko, who also had two hits.

The Cardinals, who had lost two straight, earned a four-game series split after winning the previous two series against the Diamondbacks and Nationals.

The Cardinals' eight hits backed another good outing from Michael Wacha (6-3), who allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out nine and walked two.

Marcell Ozuna had three hits and three RBI for the Marlins. Dee Gordon had two hits, scored three runs and stole two bases.

Miami starter Tom Koehler (1-4) allowed three runs and four hits over five innings. He struck out seven and walked three. The two hits by Voit were costly.

"An 0-2 curveball that was supposed to get buried and didn't get there and an 1-0 slider that he did a good job driving the other way," Koehler said. "That's a strong boy. He's got a good swing."

The Marlins took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Ozuna's two-out RBI single.

Voit tied it with a solo homer in the second inning. It traveled an estimated 446 feet and landed in the Big Mac Land section of the second deck, the first Cardinal to hit a home run there this season.

"That's something I grew up wanting to do my whole life," said Voit, who grew up idolizing former Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire. "To do it here is pretty sweet. I'm definitely going to remember that forever."

Ozuna made it 2-1 with a broken-bat RBI single to right in the third.

Voit had a two-out, two-run double off the right field wall in the third to put the Cardinals ahead 3-2.

Randal Grichuk hit a solo home run, his eighth, in the sixth to make it 4-2.

Ozuna added another RBI single in the seventh.

Cardinals closer Seung Hwan Oh capped off a strong performance by the St. Louis bullpen. He allowed a leadoff single in the ninth, but locked down his 17th save in 20 chances.

Brewers 11, Cubs 2

The Milwaukee Brewers weren't happy when the Chicago Cubs decided to postpone a game in May on what turned out to be a totally dry afternoon -- especially since the decision cost them a day off.

The Brewers also weren't pleased the makeup game was scheduled for a 1:20 p.m. CDT start on Thursday after they played a night game in Milwaukee on Wednesday.

They took out their frustrations on the field.

Ryan Braun homered to ignite a seven-run third inning and the Brewers beat the Cubs 11-2 for their fourth straight victory.

Braun went 1 for 2 with two walks and two RBI before being lifted following the sixth because of the lopsided score. Domingo Santana had four hits and two RBI and Jesus Aguilar added three hits and an RBI.

Milwaukee starter Zach Davies (10-4) allowed two runs and five hits in six innings for the win.

"I think as a team we tried to put it on them early and it kind of showed right out of the gate," Davies said.

"Off days are precious," Braun said. "You never want to give those away. If you're going to play on an off day, it's nice to get a win."

Willson Contreras homered for the Cubs, who have not won consecutive games since a three-game winning streak June 18-20.

Kyle Schwarber went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in his return following a two-week stint in the minor leagues.

Cubs starter Mike Montgomery (1-6) gave up seven runs and six hits in 2 1/3 innings.

"Honestly, there's not a lot to talk about," Chicago manager Joe Maddon said. "That game goes in the trash can as quickly as any game we've ever played. We just didn't pitch early, and it's difficult to fight back from that moment."

After Milwaukee took a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI hits by Santana and Hernan Perez, Braun's two-run homer with one out in the third made it 4-0.

Montgomery was yanked after giving up singles to the next three batters and left trailing 5-0.

Jack Leathersich came on and walked the first three batters he faced -- the last two forcing in runs. A sacrifice fly by Jonathan Villar made it 8-0 and Santana capped the rally with an RBI double to make it 9-0.

After Kris Bryant drove in a run on a groundout in the bottom of the third, Contreras' solo shot in the fourth made it 9-2.

The Brewers got both runs back in the fifth to thwart any thoughts of a comeback.

Thursday, July 6 Scoreboard

Detroit 6, San Francisco 2

St. Louis 4, Miami 3

Milwaukee 11, Chicago Cubs 2

Cincinnati 6, Colorado 3

Pittsburgh 6, Philadelphia 3

Toronto 7,  Houston 4

Cleveland 11, San Diego 2

Tampa Bay 4, Boston 1

Minnesota 6, Baltimore 4

Oakland 7, Seattle 4

Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Arizona 4

Atlanta 5, Washington 2

Friday, July 7 Scoreboard (All Times Central)

Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs, 1:20 p.m.

San Diego at Philadelphia, 5:30 p.m.

Milwaukee at New York Yankees, 6:05 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 6:05 p.m.

Houston at Toronto, 6:07 p.m.

Detroit at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m.

Boston at Tampa Bay, 6:10 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Texas, 7:05 p.m.

Baltimore at Minnesota, 7:10 p.m.

New York Mets at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Colorado, 7:40 p.m.

Cincinnati at Arizona, 8:40 p.m.

Oakland at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Los Angeles Dodgers, 9:10 p.m.

Miami at San Francisco, 9:15 p.m.

Saturday, July 8 Schedule (All Times Central)

Milwaukee at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

Houston at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Baltimore at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 3:05 p.m.

San Diego at Philadelphia, 3:05 p.m.

New York Mets at St. Louis, 3:10 p.m.

Boston at Tampa Bay, 3:10 p.m.

Detriot at Cleveland, 6:15 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs, 6:15 p.m.

Kansas City at Los Angeles Dodgers, 6:15 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Texas, 8:05 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Colorado, 8:10 p.m.

Miami at San Francisco, 9:05 p.m.

Oakland at Seattle, 9:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Arizona, 9:10 p.m.

Sunday, July 9 Schedule (All Times Central)

Milwaukee at New York Yankees, 12:05 p.m.

Houston at Toronto, 12:07 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs, 12:10 p.m.

Boston at Tampa Bay, 12:10 p.m.

Atlanta at Washington, 12:35 p.m.

San Diego at Philadelphia, 12:35 p.m.

Baltimore at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m.

New York Mets at St. Louis, 1:15 p.m.

Los Angeles Angels at Texas, 2:05 p.m.

Chicago White Sox at Colorado, 2:10 p.m.

Miami at San Francisco, 3:05 p.m.

Oakland at Seattle, 3:10 p.m.

Kansas City at Los Angeles Angels, 3:10 p.m.

Cincinnati at Arizona, 3:10 p.m.

Detroit at Cleveland, 7 p.m.