9/28/22 Hometown Broadcasting Sports Wednesday
28 September 2022 Sports
Wednesday Sports
From Wayne Mausser
Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL Central title Tuesday night by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 behind six strong innings from Miles Mikolas.
Andrew Knizner hit a two-run homer and Goldschmidt added two RBIs as St. Louis sealed its first division crown since 2019 and fourth straight playoff berth by defeating the team that won last year’s NL Central championship. This marks the third straight year the Cardinals have wrapped up a postseason spot with a victory over the Brewers.
The Cardinals (90-65) guaranteed themselves at least a tie with second-place Milwaukee (82-72), and they now own the tiebreaker because the victory Tuesday gave St. Louis an insurmountable 10-8 lead in the season series.
The Brewers remain 1 1/2 games behind Philadelphia for the final NL wild card. The Phillies won the season series with Milwaukee and would get the playoff bid if the two teams end up tied.
St. Louis trailed Milwaukee in the NL Central standings for much of the season and was four games back on the morning of July 31. The Cardinals are 37-17 and the Brewers 25-28 since. The Cardinals grabbed sole possession of first place on Aug. 6 and have been there ever since as part of an exciting season that’s included Albert Pujols hitting his 700th career homer and Goldschmidt making a convincing MVP case.
Tuesday’s clincher didn’t feature much suspense as St. Louis scored the first six runs to delight the large contingent of Cardinals fans at American Family Field.
Mikolas (12-13) struck out nine and allowed only four hits and one walk. The Brewers’ lone run off him came in the sixth when Rowdy Tellez hit his 34th homer.
Milwaukee trailed 2-0 when starter Adrian Houser (6-10) left due to a strained right groin with one out in the fourth. Houser was pitching to Pujols when the right-hander reacted with obvious discomfort. Brent Suter took over and allowed a two-out homer to Knizner that made it 4-0. The homer was Knizner’s third of the season and ended his 0-for-22 slump.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell said there’s a possibility starting pitchers Aaron Ashby and Freddy Peralta also could work out of the bullpen during this stretch run now that they’ve returned from the injured list. Peralta started and pitched two innings before Ashby worked 1 2/3 innings of relief Sunday in the Brewers’ 2-1 loss at Cincinnati. That marked the first appearances for both of them since getting activated.
LHP José Quintana (6-6, 3.03 ERA) starts for the Cardinals and RHP Brandon Woodruff (12-4, 3.18) pitches for the Brewers in the final regular-season matchup between the teams Wednesday. First pitch is at 6:40 and the game can be heard on AM 1100/98.3 FM, WISS.
Elsewhere in the NL Central Tuesday the Pirates beat the Reds 4-1 and the Cubs nipped the Phillies 2-0. The Brewers remain 1 ½ games behind the Phillies for the final NL Wild Card spot.
The Packers are back on the practice field today preparing for the New England Patriots Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field. Green Bay has won two straight after winning at Tampa Bay 14-12. New England comes in at 1-2 and has dropped two straight. Patrots quarterback Mac Jones suffered a severe ankle sprain against the Ravens. That was the report Monday but Jones may seek a second opinion.
Wide receiver Mike Evans has officially returned from his one-game suspension, and fellow pass-catcher Kaylon Geiger has been waived by the team to clear Evans’ spot on the active roster for New England.
Across 11 NFL seasons of flowing locks and game-changing sacks, Clay Matthews earned six Pro Bowl trips and for a time was regarded as one of the game’s best pass rushers.
Having last played in 2019, Matthews has never officially retired, but on Tuesday – during a promotional tour for Tide detergent let it be known he has called it a career.
“My playing days are over,” Matthews told Packers Wire..
Matthews played 11 seasons, 10 of them for the Green Bay Packers and his last for his hometown Los Angeles Rams. A member of the Packers’ 2010 Super Bowl-championship squad, Matthews was a one-time All-Pro who finished his career with 91.5 sacks, 519 tackles, 200 QB hits and 17 forced fumbles.
2018 was Matthews’ last season with the Packers, as he signed a two-year deal with the Rams. Though he was certainly past his prime seasons, Matthews still provided some pop off the edge and posted eight sacks in 13 games during 2019. However, the Rams cut him loose after one year.
Matthews stands as the Packers’ official career leader in sacks (sacks became an official stat in 1982) with 83.5.
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