Yadier Molina homered twice to back a strong start by Miles Mikolas and lift the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. Molina’s two-run homer in the sixth inning off reliever Jeremy Jeffress gave St. Louis the lead and the Cardinals held on behind the pitching of Mikolas and four relievers. Marcell Ozuna led off the sixth with a line-drive single to center and scored on Molina’s shot to right-center, a ball that bounced off the top of the wall and into the St. Louis bullpen. Mikolas (8-2) allowed three hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings while walking two and striking out five. Bud Norris earned his 14th save with a scoreless ninth. Jeffress (5-1) took the loss. The Brewers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Jesus Aguilar and an RBI single by newcomer Brad Miller. St. Louis closed the gap when Molina led off the second inning with a home run to right-center. But Brewers starter Chase Anderson did not yield another run in five innings, giving up two hits and striking out nine while walking four. The Brewers had a big chance in the eighth when they loaded the bases with two outs on two hit batters and an infield single, but Aguilar grounded out to shortstop to end the threat.
