​Facing the 104-mph heat of Jacob Misiorowski on Tuesday didn’t exactly help the Cardinals, as a narrow loss underscored how quickly a young flamethrower can challenge a lineup. Yet that tough exhibition at Busch Stadium also served as timely preparation for Wednesday, when they would face Brewers left-hander Kyle Harrison and his high-velocity offerings. The Cardinals answered in emphatic fashion, blasting Milwaukee with a 5-1 victory behind power at the plate and a solid pitching performance, delivering a meaningful rematch win after a sluggish start to the series.
Alec Burleson launched a towering 443-foot homer, and José Fermín joined the long-ball parade with a solo shot. Jordan Walker and Burleson each added RBI doubles, all of them off various forms of fastballs, as St. Louis carved out a measure of revenge for opening the series with a slow offensive display. Burleson, who had entered the game batting .181 against lefties this season, admitted to Cardinals’ broadcasters that he’d been locked in with a couple of good swings against southpaws on Wednesday. The victory, driven by a strong outing from right-hander Michael McGreevy, snapped the Cardinals’ seven-game losing streak to Milwaukee.
The win came after a rough stretch in which Milwaukee had dominated the rivalry, including a 4-3 loss on Monday and a 4-3 defeat on Tuesday in Game 1 of the doubleheader against Misiorowski, followed by a 10-2 thrashing in the nightcap. McGreevy, who celebrated his 26th birthday on Wednesday, limited the Brewers to five hits over 6 1/3 innings. He escaped trouble in the first by coaxing rookie Luis Lara into a groundout to third with the bases loaded, and after an infield single by Cooper Pratt—who was erased attempting a steal—McGreevy retired 15 consecutive Milwaukee hitters.
“He dealt today,” said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol of McGreevy. The right-hander earned his fourth win, a much-needed boost given how often he has pitched with limited run support this season. Prior to this win, he’d entered Wednesday with a lead in just 22 2/3 innings, underscoring how the Cardinals’ offense has struggled to protect early advantages. In a bit of an inspiring trend, Cards PR noted that St. Louis has now won 13 consecutive games in which their starting pitcher celebrated a birthday, a quirky but telling nod to the team’s chemistry and timing. The last pitcher to achieve that feat before McGreevy was Kwang Hyun Kim, who won on his 33rd birthday on July 22, 2021.
Luis Gastelum, summoned from Triple-A Memphis earlier in the day, made his major league debut in relief during the seventh inning. He yielded a sacrifice fly that scored a run charged to McGreevy and allowed a double in the gap, but he used a nasty changeup to induce pinch-hitter Andrew Vaughn to pop out with runners on base, quelling the Brewers’ late threat.
The Cardinals’ lineup came out swinging against Harrison, who had limited them to four hits over six scoreless innings when they met Milwaukee in late May. Masyn Winn started the bottom of the first with a laser off a Harrison fastball, hitting a double to right. The onslaught continued as Walker delivered a 104.6 mph double off Harrison—an emphatic display of the Cardinals’ readiness to attack fastballs. Burleson and Walker contributed the big hits in this victory, reinforcing that St. Louis can make a Brewers’ lefty-pitching plan uncomfortable when their timing and approach align.
In sum, the 5-1 win on Wednesday night was the product of precise timing on misfitted fastballs, disciplined plate coverage, and a pitching effort that kept the Brewers at bay. For a team that has endured a string of tough results against Milwaukee, this performance was a much-needed lift, one that could galvanize the Cardinals as they push through a demanding stretch of the schedule.