MILWAUKEE -- Michael Wacha cooled off National League MVP Christian Yelich, and the St. Louis Cardinals finally broke through against the reigning division champs.
Wacha slowed Yelich and pitched six solid innings, Matt Carpenter and Marcell Ozuna each went deep, and the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 on Wednesday to avoid being swept.
Yelich came in batting .556 with 4 home runs and 10 RBI in the series, but he was 0 for 2 with a strikeout and a walk against Wacha. Yelich did single in a run in the eighth off Andrew Miller.
The Cardinals' plan was to work the inside part of the plate against Yelich.
"We didn't control that part of the plate for most of this series, but [Wacha] did today," Cardinals Manager Mike Shildt said.
Wacha (1-0) bounced back after a tough start Thursday against the Dodgers. He struck out 7 Brewers, allowing 2 runs and 5 hits to improve to 6-0 career against last year's NL Central winners.
"Michael Wacha was the art of pitching today," Shildt said. "He came out, established his fastball and established his secondary pitches. He had a great changeup today, and he threw it in appropriately. Just real good balance and timing."
Brewers Manager Craig Counsell thought one pitch in particular clicked for Wacha.
"His cutter was a good pitch for him today," Counsell said. "He kept us off balance pretty good."
Milwaukee starter Corbin Burnes (0-2) got beat by the long ball again. He surrendered three home runs in each of his first three starts, then coughed up two more against St. Louis. He's allowed a major league-most 11 on the season.
PHILLIES 3, METS 2 Jake Arrieta pitched into the ninth inning, Scott Kingery and Cesar Hernandez hit solo home runs, and host Philadelphia beat New York.
DODGERS 3, REDS 2 A.J. Pollock hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning, and Los Angeles tied the major league record by homering in its 32nd consecutive home game during a victory over visiting Cincinnati.
NATIONALS 9, GIANTS 6 Juan Soto and Howie Kendrick hit first-inning home runs, Matt Adams and Kurt Suzuki connected in the seventh, and Washington beat visiting San Francisco.
CUBS 6, MARLINS 0 Cole Hamels pitched seven strong innings and Chicago completed a three-game sweep of host Miami.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, BRAVES 2 (10) Adam Jones worked a bases-loaded walk against Jesse Biddle in the 10th inning and also homered, lifting Arizona over host Atlanta.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ROYALS 4, WHITE SOX 3 (10) Energetic Tim Anderson spiked his bat to celebrate a home run and the Royals' Brad Keller responded by drilling him with a fastball, setting off a benches-clearing fracas in Kansas City's victory over host Chicago.
YANKEES 5, RED SOX 3 Brett Gardner hit a grand slam off Ryan Brasier in the seventh inning for his 100th career home run, and New York rallied to beat visiting Boston.
INDIANS 1, MARINERS 0 Carlos Carrasco struck out 12, Jake Bauers hit a solo home run and Cleveland beat host Seattle.
RAYS 8, ORIOLES 1 Brandon Lowe, Ji-Man Choi and Yandy Diaz homered and Tampa Bay beat visiting Baltimore.
TWINS 4, BLUE JAYS 1 Nelson Cruz had 2 hits and 2 RBI for host Minnesota, helping Jake Odorizzi and the Twins beat Toronto.
RANGERS 5, ANGELS 4 Shin-Soo Choo delivered a tiebreaking two-run triple while reaching base his first three times from the leadoff spot, and Texas finished a three-game sweep of visiting Los Angeles.
INTERLEAGUE
PIRATES 3, TIGERS 2 (10) Colin Moran hit an RBI single in the 10th inning and visiting Pittsburgh beat Detroit.
Wednesday’s games
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Philadelphia 3, NY Mets 2
St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 3
LA Dodgers 3, Cincinnati 2
Washington 9, San Francisco 6
Chicago Cubs 6, Miami 0
Arizona 3, Atlanta 2 (10)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Kansas City 4, Chicago White Sox 3 (10)
NY Yankees 5, Boston 3
Cleveland 1, Seattle 0
Tampa Bay 8, Baltimore 1
Minnesota 4, Toronto 1
Texas 5, LA Angels 4
Houston at Oakland, (n)
INTERLEAGUE
Pittsburgh 3, Detroit 2 (10)
Sports on 04/18/2019