Frankie Montas stars as the Brewers beat the struggling Cardinals 3-2

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Frankie Montas pitched seven sparkling innings and Devin Williams escaped a jam in the ninth, helping the Milwaukee Brewers beat the reeling St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Montas (6-8) allowed one hit — Alec Burleson’s single in the fourth — in his fourth start since he was acquired in a trade with Cincinnati. He struck out three and walked one.

“They like to swing early,” Montas said. “So, I was kind of just trying to use that to my advantage, you know, trying to make good pitches. And I know if I hit my spots and make good pitches, I was going to get quick outs.”

William Contreras had three hits for the NL Central-leading Brewers, who earned their sixth straight win. Sal Frelick added two hits.

Contreras, who was behind the plate for Milwaukee, said Montas was aggressive.

“He was attacking the zone,” Contreras said through an interpreter. “I think a little bit late there, maybe he got a little bit tired, and maybe got away from that a little bit, but we had a conversation in the dugout just to keep on doing what he been doing all game, stay aggressive, keep attacking the zone, and yeah, it was all working for him.”

Montas’ seven innings matched his season high and the one hit allowed matched his season low.

“He’s turned it up a notch, you know, and it’s kind of cool,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He gets it. It’s nice having his experience.”

Matt Carpenter homered for St. Louis in its seventh loss in eight games. Erick Fedde (8-7) was charged with two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Carpenter’s fourth homer of the season — a pinch-hit drive with Lars Nootbaar aboard in the eighth — got St. Louis within one.

The Cardinals loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Williams struck out Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Gorman — both swinging — for his fifth save.

“Like, he ain’t afraid of nothing,” Montas said of Williams. “You know, bases loaded, he goes, I got this. He’s Devin Williams for a reason.”

Frelick drove in Willy Adames with a two-out single in the second. Frelick also tripled and scored on Joey Ortiz’s single in the fifth.

“A little bit of a frustrating one,” Fedde said. “I just look at that run in the second inning as just shooting myself in the foot with the two walks. ... We played some great defense today, and the guys picked me up and made me feel much better about the outing.”

It was the first multihit game since Aug. 8 for Frelick, who broke out of a 1-for-14 slump.

“Sal’s been pretty consistent,” Murphy said. “He hasn’t swung it great lately as far as barrels, but he’s capable. He’s such a winning player.”

Contreras doubled home Garrett Mitchell for a 3-0 lead in the eighth.

“You’ve got to give William a lot of credit,” Murphy said. “He had a great game tonight, both sides of the ball.”

Carpenter’s drive was his sixth career pinch-hit homer and his first since April 30, 2021, against Pittsburgh.

“In order for us to be playing in October we’re going to have to score more runs, and we were unable to do that again today,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.

TRANSACTIONS

The Cardinals gave shortstop Brandon Crawford his unconditional release and reinstated Carpenter from the 10-day injured list. They also optioned outfielder Jordan Walker to the minors and recalled infielder Luken Baker from Triple-A Memphis.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: RHP Trevor Megill (low back injury) was reinstated from the 15-day injured list, and RHP Elvis Peguero was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.

Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (right knee inflammation) threw a live bullpen at around 45 pitches and will throw another one at a higher intensity on Monday.

The Brewers will start RHP Tobias Myers (6-5, 2.81 ERA) on Wednesday night against Cardinals RHP Kyle Gibson (7-5, 4.26 ERA). Myers received a no-decision in the Brewers’ 7-1 win over the Cardinals on May 9 at Milwaukee. Gibson allowed a career-high four homers in his last start, a 9-2 loss at Cincinnati.

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