MILWAUKEE – William Contreras is hurting that the Cardinals came to town without his brother, who is back in St. Louis recovering from surgery for the sort of injury every catcher fears as they creep closer and closer to home plate in search of called strikes.
“It’s hard for me, hard for him, hard for our family because he plays hard every day and he loves to play,” William Contreras said of big brother Willson, who suffered a broken forearm earlier this week on a J.D. Martinez swing. “But that happens in baseball.”
And so baseball rolls on for the younger Contreras, a budding star who continued to show a mastery of every little nuance of the game in a 7-1 Brewers win over the Cardinals at American Family Field.
What stood out wasn’t a pitch Contreras called (the 26-year-old calls every pitch when he’s catching) or a batted ball (he ranks fourth in the Majors in batted balls north of 95 mph behind the likes of Joan Soto, Shohei Ohtani and Bobby Witt Jr.) on his latest three-hit night. It was a little shimmy on the basepaths in the first inning, as Contreras eluded the tag of Nolan Arenado on what was shaping into an inning-ending double play, and opened the door for a three-run Brewers rally that sent them on the way to a ninth victory in the past 10 games between the teams.
After making it to third, Contreras scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch. Then Rhys Hoskins made it 3-0 with a two-run home run.
Jake Bauers and Joey Ortiz also homered as the Brewers hung six earned runs on Cardinals starter Sonny Gray, who has been one of the stingiest starters in baseball. In six starts, Gray has surrendered nine earned runs. Eight have scored in Gray’s two matchups against Milwaukee.
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