|
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS AT MILWAUKEE BREWERS
October 5, 1922 — American Family Field
Tonight in Milwaukee, the Brewers didn’t just win Game 1 of their Wild Card series against the St. Louis Cardinals — they announced themselves. A 12–4 victory, resounding in its authority, powered by a lineup that seemed relentless from the opening inning on.
And at the center of it all — right fielder Fernando Cruz. Three hits, including a thunderous home run in the seventh, three runs driven in, two scored, and a presence that turned every at-bat into theater. If the Brewers are to make a deep run this October, history may remember tonight as the evening when Fernando Cruz placed his stamp on the postseason.
The Cardinals, for their part, found themselves undone by both shaky pitching and untimely miscues. Twelve hits were not enough to offset three errors, each one costly, each one seized upon by a Milwaukee team that refused to squander an opportunity. Their starter, Chris Nelson, could not survive the third inning, tagged for six runs. By the time St. Louis regrouped, the deficit had grown too large to overcome.
Milwaukee’s own starter, Rich Alvarado, was not perfect — far from it — surrendering nine hits and four runs over six and two-thirds. But he was sturdy where Nelson was fragile. And with a comfortable lead, sturdiness was all that was required.
The contrast between the clubs was striking. St. Louis left ten men stranded; Milwaukee left fourteen, and still pushed across a dozen runs. That, in essence, is the game: chances converted, mistakes magnified.
So, after one game in this best-of-three, Milwaukee holds the upper hand. Tomorrow, the Cardinals will try to extend the series, to find some measure of redemption. But tonight, in front of more than 46,000 fans on a rainy, windswept evening at American Family Field, it was the Brewers’ night.
And the October narrative — the one baseball has been writing, in its elegant, unhurried way, for more than a century — has a new chapter. Its title? Cruz, Milwaukee Open WC Strong with 12-4 Win.
|