Liberatore pitches gem, Cards dump slumping Brewers 3-2

Matthew Liberatore pitched six-plus solid innings, and Brendan Donovan had a pair of singles and drove in a run to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 Friday night.

 Milwaukee has lost three straight and four of its last five.

Liberatore (2-2) allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits with four strikeouts. He has completed six innings in all five of his starts this season.

Ryan Helsley pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his fourth save.

Lars Nootbaar drew his ninth leadoff walk of the season in the bottom of the first, breaking Davey Lopes’ record of eight leadoff walks in March and April, set in 1975 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Brewers RHP Quinn Priester (1-0, 1.93 ERA) opposes Cardinals RHP Sonny Gray (3-0, 3.41) on Saturday.



(AP Photo Scott Kane)