Luis Lara made sure his first major league game was a memorable one as the Milwaukee Brewers prospect drove in a pair for the visitors, who beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-2 and swept a Tuesday doubleheader.
Robert Gasser (2-3) allowed just four hits and a walk while lasting a personal-best 7 2/3 innings for Milwaukee. His only blemish was a two-run home run by Nelson Velazquez in the sixth.
Joey Ortiz (2-for-4) homered to start a seven-run seventh inning that capped the game for the Brewers, who have won four straight and eight of 10.
Brice Turang smacked two doubles while going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in the nightcap. Cooper Pratt tripled as part of a 2-for-3 night with two runs scored. His two-run double provided the final runs in the seventh.
Lara, called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Nashville, went 1-for-4 and scored a run. His first big-league hit came with two outs and the bases loaded in the fifth, a scorching grounder off Hunter Dobbins that just escaped a diving JJ Wetherholt and into right field. The two-run single pushed the Brewers’ lead to 3-0.
That broke open what had been a pitchers’ duel between a couple of spot starters. Gasser, who struck out four, came off an assignment to Milwaukee’s rookie league team in Arizona so he could get ready for the twin bill. Meanwhile, St. Louis brought up Dobbins from Triple-A Memphis to be the team’s 27th player for the day-night doubleheader. The right-hander allowed only a run through the first four innings.
Dobbins left after issuing a leadoff walk in the sixth. He allowed three runs on four hits over five innings. He walked three and struck out four. Jared Shuster pitched 1 1/3 innings and was responsible for the remaining runs while giving up five hits and three walks.
The Cardinals, whose bullpen has been stretched of late, used utility player Bryan Torres for the last two innings. He allowed just a walk.
Jordan Walker got a pair of singles to account for half of the Cardinals’ hit total. He scored on Velazquez’s homer, his fourth of the season.
