MILWAUKEE _ Even after he struck out three times here on Thursday, Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt still had a .407 career batting average at Miller Park with eight homers in 91 at-bats. He was back on track here on Friday, though. In fact, it was full steam ahead.
After crushing a two-run homer in the first and singling in the second, Goldschmidt gave the Cardinals their third and final lead with a long homer to left off Milwaukee's Taylor Williams in the sixth. Then in his fifth at-bat of the night, he got his fourth hit _ and his third homer, this one off Jacob Barnes, as the Cardinals pulled away to a 9-5 victory, recorded by John Gant, who tossed 12/3 scoreless innings in relief of Jack Flaherty.
Goldschmidt's three-homer day was the second of his big-league career, the other coming on Aug. 3, 2017, at Wrigley Field. Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell never gave Goldschmidt a shot at four on Friday. Counsell walked Goldschmidt intentionally in the ninth.
Flaherty, who wasn't sharp the second time through the lineup _ he allowed five of nine hitters to reach base the second time around _ faced just two hitters the third time around. Both singled, although catcher Yadier Molina threw out one of them.
But Gant relieved Flaherty in the fifth and fanned both Ryan Braun and Travis Shaw with a runner at first. Gant always gets Braun out. The Brewer is 0 for 8 against the Cardinals' right-hander. Shaw had been 4 for 9 with two walks but Gant whiffed him, too, to send the game tied into the sixth.
Goldschmidt then started a 3-6-3 double play to take Gant out of the sixth, stretching in the dirt to keep his foot on the bag after taking shortstop Paul DeJong's return throw.
Alex Reyes breezed through a perfect seventh. Left-hander Andrew Miller entered in the eighth to face a hitter he often will encounter this year, left-handed-batting Christian Yelich. The 2018 National League Most Valuable Player got the better of this one, homering to center.
But Jordan Hicks, also making his first appearance of the season, struck out two of the three hitters he faced in the ninth.
