Albert Pujols, Cardinals Tie up NLCS in 12-3 Rout of Brewers

“Sometimes, you’re going to get spanked a little bit.” - Nyjer Morgan

Thanks to five RBI by Albert Pujols and some additional run support from guys like David Freese and Nick Punto, the St. Louis Cardinals evened up the National League Championship Series at a game a-piece with a 12-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers Monday night.

After producing just one run in his team's first six postseason games this year, Pujols went 4-for-5 with a home run and three doubles to power St. Louis past Milwaukee. That must have felt pretty good after screwing up royally during Game 1 when he hit into a broken-bat double play representing the tying run in the seventh.

Rickie Weeks nailed a two-run shot in the fourth and Ryan Braun went 2-for-4, but failed to drive in any runs. Prince Fielder did his part with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth, but unfortunately for the Brew Crew, it was too little, too late. Nyjer Morgan and all of his trash-talk is 0-for-4 against the Cards so far this round.

Both bullpens got a lot of work in after both starters were chased in the fourth inning. Milwaukee’s Shaun Marcum looked just plain ugly out there, coughing up five runs on seven hits and taking the loss. St. Louis starter Edwin Jackson surrendered the Weeks homer along with seven hits and a walk before his exit in the fourth.

The Cards are headed home for Game 3 Wednesday evening with ace Chris Carpenter on the hill against Yovani Gallardo at 8:05pm ET on TBS.

[USA Today]

The Milwaukee Brewers are One Win Away from the NLCS

In front of yet another sold-out crowd at Miller Park, the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-4 Sunday afternoon to give themselves a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five National League Division Series for their hometown fans.

In fact, they're the only team to have a 2-0 lead in the playoffs thus far, with every other series tied at 1-1. Oddly enough, this marks the first time in franchise history that the Brewers hold a shutout lead in a postseason series.

Ryan Braun was at it again for Milwaukee, nailing a two-run homer in the first inning before Paul Goldschmidt answered with a solo shot in the second for the Diamondbacks. Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks then drove in a few runs in the third for a 6-1 lead, but Chris Young and Justin Upton each hit homers in the fourth in fifth, respectively, in an attempt to chip away at Milwaukee's rather comfortable position.

Jonathan Lucroy, who his teammates call "Mr. Squeeze", drove in the go-ahead run with a bunt during the Brewers' five-run sixth that busted the game wide open. Corey Hart, Nyjer Morgan, and Braun each singled to chip right back and eventually earn the win for the Brewers.

Rickie Weeks on the DL

The Milwaukee Brewers finally won one last night - a 4-3 nail-biter over the Florida Marlins. But they lost Rickie Weeks to a sore right wrist.

Weeks was placed on the 15-day disabled list with tendinitis of the wrist, retroactive to May 30th. The youngster missed most of the final two months of last season after having surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in the same wrist.

The swift-hitting second baseman was batting .243 with five homers, 16 RBIs and 34 runs scored in 44 games this season.

In a related move, the Brew Crew recalled right-hander Jose Capellan from the AAA Nashville Sounds.

Capellan was 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA in the minors so far this season, striking out 22 over 28 innings, including three starts and 17 relief appearances.

[Brew Crew Ball]