Crew rally, but Cards chirp, 7-6 in 13 inn

MILWAUKEE -- The Brewers rallied from a 6-4 deficit to tie St. Louis in the 9th inning, but in typical fashion, the Cardinals bounced back to win, 7-6, on Carlos Beltran's 10th sacrifice fly Friday night at Miller Park.
Milwaukee (68-85) pulled to within a run on Logan Schafer's bloop single; former Brewers closer John Axford entered the game with the bases loaded and 1 out; he gave up a run-scoring infield hit to Aramis Ramirez (3-run homer, 5 rbi), but Axford was able to get Carlos Gomez to smash into an inning-ending double play.
Johnny Hellweg started the game; he allowed 2 runs over 5 innings. Hellweg walked 5, but the Crew turned 3 double plays behind him.
St. Louis (90-64) now leads the Pirates and Reds by 2 games in the National league Central Division.
Game 2 of the 3 game series is Saturday night at 6:10