MILWAUKEE — Even before the first pitch, the Milwaukee Brewers took a swing at the St. Louis Cardinals.
Come Sunday, the Brewers swapped their barbs for bats — and just kept bashing.
In the NL Championship Series opener, Milwaukee turned to its power duo of Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, then got a clutch hit from Yuniesky Betancourt to beat the Cardinals 9-6.
The Brewers celebrated wildly as the big hits came during a rapid-fire rally.
“It’s the playoffs, bro,” Fielder said. “You’ve got to let it all out.”
Braun launched a two-run, 463-foot homer in the first inning and added a two-run double during a six-run burst in the fifth. Fielder hit a two-run homer, and the typically light-hitting Betancourt added a two- run homer to cap it.
The outburst came so fast that the crowd wasn’t done cheering Braun’s big hit when Fielder went deep.
“I don’t even know if I heard the ball come off Prince’s bat,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “I knew it was a good swing and came off nice, but when you can’t hear the ball, the sound of it, because of all the people yelling, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen there until I saw the ball flight.”
At least for one game, the bitter NL Central rivals avoided any on-field confrontations in their first postseason matchup since the 1982 World Series.
That’s despite an already tense atmosphere that gained some steam when Brewers starter Zack Greinke let it slip Saturday that some of his teammates don’t like the Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter — a comment that drew a stern rebuke from Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.
Greinke hinted that he heard a few comments from the Cardinals’ dugout, but he said it was nothing out of the ordinary.
“They’re yelling from the dugout some, but most teams do that,” Greinke said. “Everyone always makes fun of me grunting when I throw a fastball. It’s kind of funny sometimes, but no big deal.”
The atmosphere was tense even before the first pitch, as La Russa was showered with boos during pregame introductions. He calmly tipped his cap to the crowd.
La Russa said he hoped the tension wouldn’t overshadow the competition — although he said he had a sense that some fans and media members would be disappointed if there aren’t any repeats of the on-field confrontations the teams have had in the recent past.
“I don’t want our players and their players to be egged on, and I don’t think they will,” La Russa said. “We’re going to play as hard and good against each other as we can.”
Greinke struggled at times, but reliever Takashi Saito got Cardinals star Albert Pujols to ground into a key double play in the seventh. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a hitless eighth and closer John Axford threw a hitless ninth for a save.
Star of the game: Ryan Braun
The Brewers left fielder, who along with teammate Prince Fielder is a strong candidate for NL MVP honors, had a big day as he went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs. Braun hit a two-run homer in the first inning and added a two-run double during a six-run fifth. Braun is now batting .500 (11-for-22) this postseason with five doubles, two homers and eight RBIs in six games.
Key Moment: Pujols misses his chance
With the score 8-5, St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols came to the plate with runners on first and third and no outs in the seventh. Pujols broke his bat on a double-play grounder — a run scored, but the Brewers limited the damage. The three-time NL MVP has just one RBI in six playoff games after grounding into a major league-leading 29 double plays during the regular season.
