The Milwaukee Brewers put a little bit of distance between themselves and the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Central Division standings with their 3-2 win on Sunday afternoon. The victory also gave Milwaukee a 3-1 series victory, though they remain 5.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the division.
As fans are well aware, tensions were high between the Brewers and Cardinals due to an incident on Saturday afternoon. As Caleb Durbin tried to beat out a ground ball to third, St. Louis first baseman Willson Contreras took a step backwards and knocked him over. This led to Rhys Hosksins chirping at Contreras from the home dugout. Additionally, Jose Quintana plunked the Cardinals first baseman in his next at bat.
After losing an emotional game on Saturday, it was imperative that the Brewers take the fourth game of the series, not only to win it, but to make a statement. And they did.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, three-time All-Star Christian Yelich tied the game with an opposite field solo home run. A few batters later, recently acquired and called up outfielder Drew Avans hit a sacrifice fly that gave Milwaukee a 2-1 lead.
Caleb Durbin later scored on a Sal Frelick RBI groundout in the seventh, providing just enough insurance for the Brewers bullpen. Ivan Herrera hit a solo home run off of Jared Koenig in the eighth inning to cut the lead to 3-2, but Nick Mears was able to get the Brewers out of the inning without any further damage.
After allowing two base runners to reach in the ninth inning, closer Trevor Megill struck out three Cardinals batters to lock down the save and secure the series for Milwaukee.
His third strikeout not only saw him pump his fist and shout out in celebration, but elicited a rare excited reaction from catcher William Contreras.
After the game, Megill talked about the emotions of the series:
Trevor Megill on the tension of the last two days and coming out with the win today
“Tensions were high and things got a little chippy. But at the end of the day, it seemed to kind of even itself out.” pic.twitter.com/pQPxYfHHCR
— Hunter Baumgardt (@hunterbonair) June 15, 2025
“Guys in our league, it’s always important, no matter who we’re playing, whether it be Pittsburgh, St. Louis, the Reds, doesn’t matter. You know, tensions were high and things got a little chippy, but at the end of the day it seemed to work itself out.
“Both sides were pretty respectful today and, yeah, it just played itself out.”
If fans were wondering if the two teams will remember their Saturday excitement the next time they play each other, they may be disappointed to learn that the Brewers do not play the Cardinals again until September 15.
With the way the two teams are playing, as well as how the Wild Card picture is developing, these late series between Milwaukee and St. Louis will prove to be crucial if the Brewers are to make the postseason again.
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