MILWAUKEE (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers hadn’t faced each other all season before this week despite playing in the same division.
They spent Monday making up for lost time.
Both games of their doubleheader split went into extra innings after being scheduled for seven, with the winning team coming from behind each time. The Brewers won the opener 2-1 in eight innings and were three outs from a sweep before the Cardinals rallied to take the nightcap 3-2 in nine innings.
Monday’s doubleheader opened a three-day, five-game series between these NL Central rivals. Counting this doubleheader, the Brewers will play the Cardinals 10 times over their last 16 games.
The Cardinals (21-21), Cincinnati Reds (23-26) and Brewers (21-25) are fighting for second place in the NL Central behind the Chicago Cubs. The top two teams in each division earn automatic playoff berths as part of this year’s expanded postseason.
Second place St. Louis trails first place Chicago by four games, third place Reds 5 1/2 out, fourth place Brewers are six games out.
The Cardinals and Brewers meet again Tuesday in the lone single game of the series. Jack Flaherty (3-1, 3.08 ERA) pitches for St. Louis, and Brett Anderson (2-3, 4.64) starts for Milwaukee. 5:45 with the pre-game, first pitch at 6:40 on KIRX.