MILWAUKEE _ Because the Milwaukee Brewers were so right-handed in their lineup last season, general manager David Stearns sought more balance by acquiring left-handed-hitting Eric Thames and Travis Shaw over the winter.
Thames and Shaw have brought more than balance to the lineup. They have brought substantial power.
That 1-2 punch was at it again Thursday night at Miller Park, leading the way to a 7-5 victory over St. Louis. Shaw got things started with a tape-measure, three-run homer off the facing of the third deck in right, and Thames erased a 4-3 deficit with a two-run, opposite-field blast in the fifth.
Both shots came off Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez, who had previously owned the Brewers, lock, stock and barrel. In seven previous starts, Martinez was 4-1 with a 1.36 earned run average, with only nine earned runs allowed in 592/3 innings.
And "Craig's Crushers" weren't finished. Jett Bandy made it three home runs in his last three starts with a two-run shot to left in the sixth off lefty Kevin Siegrist.
The three home runs boosted the Brewers' season total to 32, tops in the majors. They have hit at least one home run in 12 consecutive games.
The blasts were needed because starting pitcher Zach Davies has yet to find the pinpoint control that made him so successful. Davies surrendered three runs in the second on a bases-full triple by Kolten Wong, who was batting .171, and another on Matt Carpenter's 425-foot homer to right-center in the fifth.
Davies threw only 57 of 99 pitches for strikes and that just isn't going to work for him. His earned run average through four starts is 8.24, leaving much room for improvement.
Davies departed after 51/3 innings, leaving relievers Oliver Drake, Jhan Marinez, Carlos Torres and Jacob Barnes to finish off the Cardinals. Barnes got the call to close after Neftali Feliz exceeded 30 pitches the previous day in Chicago.
