Greinke Cruises as Brewers Blank Cardinals

Starters

MIL- Zack Greinke: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 HR, 7 K (91 pitches, 61 strikes)
STL- Adam Wainwright: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 HR, 6 K (88 pitches, 56 strikes)

Brewers Highlights

Rickie Weeks: 2-4, HR
Ryan Braun: 2-3, 2 2B
Corey Hart: 2-3, 2 HR

Cardinals Highlights

David Freese: 2-4
Yesterday

Recap

Zack Greinke was on his game today, and it was awesome. The right-hander shut out the Cardinals for seven innings, and Corey Hart added two home runs as the Brewers topped St. Louis 6-0. The Crew, whose record improves to 1-1, faced St. Louis ace Adam Wainwright in his first start since a 2010 Tommy John surgery.

Any description of this game has to start with Greinke, who struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 first inning and never looked back, allowing only three hits in seven innings, all of them less-than-solid ground balls through the infield. According to both Win Probability Added and Game Score, today’s start was Greinke’s best as a Brewer. (Thanks to Jaymes Langrehr, former editor of this blog, for the numbers.)

From a more subjective standpoint, Greinke’s stuff looked outstanding as well: Pitch F/X had him clocked as high as 95 mph, his slider looked very sharp, generating plenty of swings and misses, and he mixed in a few upper-60s curveballs that could only be described as funny. This may be the best we see Greinke this season, but I still shudder at how good he can be when he’s on.

As you probably gathered from above, the Brewers’ biggest bats came out in full force today. Braun got his first two hits of the season with a pair of the doubles. Hart hit two homers, including a towering drive that nearly hit Bernie Brewer’s chalet. Weeks added a homerun and a single, and Aramis Ramirez collected his first hit as a Brewers with a sixth-inning double. All told, it was a very successful day at the ballpark for the Brewers, who will try to take the series tomorrow. Randy Wolf will start for Milwaukee, with Lance Lynn opposing for the Cardinals.

Some more quick notes:

— With nobody out in the sixth inning, Nyjer Morgan attempted to sacrifice Rickie Weeks over to second. His bunt went up the first base line and was fielded by pitcher Adam Wainwright, whose throw was mishandled by second baseman Daniel Descalso, giving Morgan a single. It’s called Plushdamentals, everyone.

— New Brewers radio announcer Joe Block (on Twitter @joe_block) sounds really good. He’s got a nice voice and seems to have an affinity for numbers, which most of us can appreciate. Brewer fans are really lucky not only to have Bob Uecker, but a solid play-by-play guy to go with him.

— If you were listening on the radio today, you were lucky. FOX’s team of Thom Brennaman and Eric Karros made the game feel like a Cardinals broadcast.

— As far as I can tell, no babies were eaten, but I’m not really sure.