Milwaukee Brewers: 250 Words or Less: NLCS Game 1

The Milwaukee Brewers kicked off their first ever National League Championship Series by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 9-6 in front of a rocking Miller Park crowd.

Zack Greinke was a bit off on his game but still got the win, his 12th at home this year, to remain perfect in Milwaukee. He got in trouble early but fought into the 7th inning before finally getting lifted.

The Crew faced an early 1-0 deficit when Ryan Braun put the Brewers on the board with a 2-run homer in the 1st. What appeared to be a slug fest cooled down after that. St. Louis built a 5-2 lead with the help of a 3-run blast in the 4th. It wasn’t looking great for Milwaukee.

Everything changed in the 5th. Corey Hart and Jerry Hairston lead off with hits and Ryan Braun drove them both in on a ground-rule double. Prince Fielder started some fireworks by going long to bring in Braun. Rickie Weeks got to 1st on an error and Yuniesky Betancourt hit his own 2-run shot to put the Brewers up for good.

Greinke came out in the next inning after the Cardinals cut the score to 8-6, but the bullpen did it’s job closing out the game, and John Axford got his first postseason save.

The series continues tomorrow with Shaun Marcum on the mound, looking to improve from his last performance in the previous round.

Tags: John Axford, Milwaukee Brewers, NLCS, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, St. Louis Cardinals, Yuniesky Betancourt, Zack Greinke