ST. LOUIS -- Drilled in the left arm in his first at-bat of the game – possibly in response to a check swing that injured Brewers catcher William Contreras a night earlier -- Cardinals designated hitter Iván Herrera got his payback on the next pitch he saw two innings later.

Herrera, one of the team’s most consistent hitters all season, drilled his 17th home run of the season in the third inning and the Cards got five strong innings from starter Matthew Liberatore to beat the Brewers, 5-1 , on Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium.

In Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Brewers in 10 innings , Herrera had a somewhat awkward check swing where his bat hit Contreras’ left (glove) hand -- a play ruled as catcher’s interference. On the second pitch he saw from Robert Gasser on Sunday, Herrera was hi

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