A lead powered by Ivan Herrera’s two-run homer in the third inning and padded by Jose Fermin’s two-run double an inning later helped the Cardinals end their 2025 home slate with a win and delayed an on-field celebration for a Brewers club on the brink on clinching the National League Central division title.
In a game tied at zero at the start of the third inning, Herrera belted a towering two-run homer off Brewers starter Robert Gasser, who was called to the majors Sunday to make his first big-league start of the year after Brandon Woodruff was placed on the injured list. And once Gasser was pulled from the start following three innings, Fermin’s double off former Cardinal Erick Fedde pushed the Cardinals’ lead to four in their 5-1 win Sunday over the Brewers at Busch Stadium.
Herrera’s and Fermin’s run-producing hits provided support for starter Matthew Liberatore as he struck out six Brewers and kept them to one run on a sacrifice fly through his five innings. In his final home start of the season, Liberatore flashed a fastball that touched 97.5 mph and had a 40% whiff rate on his curveball. Five of the lefty’s six strikeouts came in his first three innings.
In relief of Liberatore, rookie Matt Svanson worked around two hits and a walk to complete two scoreless innings. Ryan Fernandez recorded two strikeouts to notch a hold in the eighth inning, and Riley O’Brien secured his sixth save of the season.
The Brewers entered Sunday with a magic number of one to claim their third consecutive NL Central crown and fourth in the previous five seasons. A win over the Cardinals would have secured the division, or a loss from the Cubs, who faced the Reds. At the time of this writing, the Cubs trailed the Reds 1-0 in the top of the eighth inning.
Walks lead to runs
When the Cardinals pushed across two runs apiece in the third and fourth innings, free passes by Brewers pitchers set the stage for RBI hits.
In the third inning, Victor Scott II’s leadoff walk against Gasser gave the Cardinals a base runner just as their lineup was set to wrap around. It set the stage for Herrera’s mighty swing to lead to the first run of the day for the Cardinals.
On a 1-0 pitch from Gasser, Herrera lifted a fly ball to left-center field that traveled 419 feet and had a 107.1 mph exit velocity behind it. The homer was Herrera’s 17th of the year.
Following Gasser’s exit, back-to-back walks by Fedde put runners on first and second base and no outs with the bottom of the third of the Cardinals’ lineup set to hit.
The opportunity to hit with multiple runners on was made the most of by Fermin after earning a sixth pitch against the former Cardinal. Fermin fouled off an 0-2 sweeper, took a siker for a ball on the next pitch, and fouled off a 1-2 cutter before driving a second sinker from Fedde off the wall in left field for a two-RBI double.
Leaving them loaded
When a one-out walk to Isaac Collins loaded the bases in the third inning, Liberatore’s swing-and-miss stuff and ability to coax a groundout kept the Brewers off the scoreboard.
After a 3-2 slider slipped away for a fourth ball to Collins, Liberatore got ahead of Andrew Vaughn in a 1-2 count with a called strike on a cutter and a foul tip on his changeup. The Cardinals’ lefty went to his curveball with two strikes but had it miss for a ball low and inside to Vaugh. Liberatore continued to lean on his breaking pitch mix and offered Vaughn a slider that got the righty to whiff for strike three.
In the next at-bat, Liberatore evened a 1-0 count against Rhys Hoskins by landing a changeup for a strike before getting the righty slugger to hammer a changeup for an inning-ending groundout.
A familiar face
Back at Busch Stadium for the first time since being designated for assignment by the Cardinals in late July, Fedde logged four innings, allowed three runs on one hit and walked three batters before he was removed from the outing in the eighth inning after he issued a leadoff walk to Ivan Herrera.
The walk to Herrera opened an inning during which the Cardinals loaded the bases with one out but walked away with one run scored on a bases-loaded walk to Fermin.
Since signing with Milwaukee as a free agent in late August following his release from the Braves, Fedde has worked primarily out of relief for the Brewers and held a 1.93 ERA in 9 1/3 innings in that role heading into Sunday.
The three runs allowed Sunday bloated Fedde’s ERA as a reliever in Milwaukee to 3.65.
The two runs he allowed on Fermin’s double were Fedde’s first earned runs allowed in September. The former Cardinals trade deadline acquisition had logged five innings and given up one unearned run across four appearances this month.
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Daniel Guerrero | Post-Dispatch
Baseball writer
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