Milwaukee Brewers usually don’t win two straight versus St. Louis Cardinals. Like a cat with a mouse, they sometimes like the mouse get away for a little bit then put their big-ass paw down. That’s what Cardinals did last night as Carlos Martinez outduels Wily Peralta to give St. Louis the 2-1 victory. Cards had the pitching and the one big timely hit that proved to be the difference in this one.

Player of the Game (Brewers): Wily Peralta – A nice start for Peralta at St. Louis last night as he goes 5.2 innings with two runs allowed and seven strikeouts with only two walks scattered. Sure, he got into some trouble in the fifth and sixth inning, but Peralta pitched well for the most part. It’s good to see the longball wasn’t a factor after surrendering four last time out.

(Not) Player of the Game (Brewers): Nick Franklin – Not sure what good it is for Milwaukee to have Nick Franklin getting a start. I understand that Eric Thames probably doesn’t want to play all of the left field with Ryan Braun out with an injury but giving Keon Broxton the day off meant Franklin was the only option. He’s made zero impact since arriving to the team.

Player of the Game (Cardinals): Carlos Martinez – Not a surprise here. Martinez bounced back to his regular dominance versus Brewers with 7.1 innings, four hits allowed and four strikeouts. It took Brewers bats awhile before getting their first hit off the Cardinals ace. Sadly this time around, Eric Thames and Travis Shaw couldn’t figure him out.

Positive: Good pitching from 1st to 9th – We mentioned Peralta, but the bullpen also did its job tonight which is encouraging to see after struggles versus Atlanta plus what happened last night. Jacob Barnes, Oliver Drake and Jhan Marinez all pitched well. Brewers pitchers ended up getting 13 strikeouts in this one.

Negative: Brewers had their chances in the 7th and 8th – Milwaukee trailed the whole game being down 2-0, but they clawed a run in the 7th yet it could have been more. Orlando Arica failed to bring in the runner from third with a strikeout. Then in the next inning, Brewers got something going, and Shaw had a chance to be the hero again yet it didn’t happen. Cards pitching did their job.

Next up: The third of four against Cards happens tonight potentially. There’s a chance for bad weather in the St. Louis area so they might not get in this game tonight. If they do, it’s Adam Wainwright versus Chase Anderson. You have to worry about Anderson in this spot since he gives up a lot of hard contact. We already know about Waino.

Charlie.