Rogers takes 1st loss as Cardinals beat Brewers

(AP Photo/Jeff Curry)

ST. LOUIS (AP) Mark Rogers took his first major league loss Saturday night, yet the rookie showed the Milwaukee Brewers something in the process.

Rogers was in trouble during the third inning of what would become a 6-1 setback to the St. Louis Cardinals. He had already faced nine batters and allowed six hits and four runs in the frame, but avoided further damage by striking out Daniel Descalso.

After that, Rogers (0-1) retired six straight before leaving for a pinch hitter in the sixth. He gave up five runs on seven hits.

"Obviously you want to give your team the best chance to win, and obviously that third inning didn't go quite as I had planned it," Rogers said.

Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said he felt Rogers deserved a better fate.

"I thought his numbers were worse than what he threw," said Roenicke, who indicated Rogers would stay in the rotation. "Everything they hit was perfectly placed, whether it was a groundball in between us or some bloops to center that really hurt him."

In his first career start July 29 against Washington, Rogers went 5 2-3 innings while allowing just two runs. This time, the going was a little rougher.

Rogers retired the Cardinals in order in the first inning and needed only seven pitches to accomplish that.

Carlos Beltran hit Rogers' first pitch of the second inning over the wall in right. Rogers seemed to get a break when the ball bounced back on to the field and Beltran had to stop at third. But after a review, Beltran was awarded a home run, which tied the game at 1.

"We thought it hit that back wall," said Roenicke, who had no issues with the call.

Rogers retired the next three batters, but the problems came in the third. Descalso and Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright opened with doubles to give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead, Allen Craig added an RBI single and Yadier Molina hit a two-run single.

"I felt like if I could have executed some pitches to him it would have been a different inning," Rogers said of Molina. "But he had a great swing on it and that's why he's a great hitter."

Ryan Braun drove in the Brewers' run with a first-inning sacrifice fly. Milwaukee did little against Wainwright, who pitched a five-hitter.

"He was really good today," Roenicke said. "You looked at that command. Everything was down, everything was on the corner. The ball-strike ratio was outstanding."

Wainwright (9-10) moved closer to .500 after starting the season at 0-3. He threw 73 of 98 pitches for strikes, walking none and fanning seven.

All of Wainwright's strikeouts came during a stretch between the third and seventh innings when he retired 13 batters in a row. The complete game was his second of the season and 10th of his career.

Wainwright also hit an RBI double and a single, and he scored a run.

NOTES: The Cardinals honored members of 1982 World Series championship clubs before the game and both teams wore retro jerseys. St. Louis defeated Milwaukee, then an American League team, in seven games in the Series that year. ... Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez , who had a cortisone shot in his sore left wrist Thursday, was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game. . . . Marco Estrada will face the Cardinals' Kyle Lohse in the series finale Sunday. . . . Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia went 4 1-3 innings and allowed two hits and one run while striking out six in a rehab assignment for Double-A Springfield on Saturday night.

Updated August 4, 2012