On Monday, the St. Louis Cardinals returned home after pulling off a three-game sweep at Fenway Park over the Boston Red Sox.
They were met by the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.
St. Louis busted out for 18 runs as they took the series opener from their NL Central rivals.
Making the start was right-hander Jack Flaherty, who gave the Cardinals seven scoreless innings against the Brewers.
His previous start against the Chicago Cubs lasted five innings as the right-hander allowed three runs.
On Monday, he looked more like his 2019 self.
On Twitter, the Cardinals posted a graphic featuring some of Flaherty’s numbers from Monday’s start, which show just how dominant the young right-hander was.
JacKKKKKKKKKK Flaherty#STLCards x @ANG_Recruiting pic.twitter.com/GZyW95zNbv
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) May 16, 2023
Flaherty allowed just three hits and struck out 10 batters as the Cardinals ran their win streak up to four games and won their seventh game over their last eight matchups.
The 27-year-old also only walked two batters as he earned his third win of the season.
After a strong start against the Seattle Mariners in late-April, Flaherty began to struggle and watched his ERA skyrocket to 6.29.
But the right-hander was back on track against the Brewers and lowered his ERA to 5.24 on the season as he helped the Cardinals continue their run.
The Cardinals have won back-to-back series for the first time all season and will look to extend that streak to three consecutive series victories.
Flaherty also helped the Cardinals gain ground on their division rivals.
After starting the month of May 10 games out of first place, the Cardinals have gained 3.5 games and are now just 6.5 behind Milwaukee in the NL Central.
