Junior Guerra – File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
The Milwaukee Brewers took a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning over St. Louis on Tuesday night, then the roof caved in, leading to a 9-4 loss to the Cardinals.
The Cardinals tallied four runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to take control of the game.
The meltdown started in the bottom of the sixth when Jeremy Jeffress (3-4) loaded the bases and didn’t retire a batter. After Alex Claudio came on to strike out Kolten Wong and Craig Counsell turned next to Junior Guerra.
Guerra quickly walked Harrison Bader to force in the tying run before striking out pinch-hitter Matt Carpenter for the second out. The big blow came next, when Dexter Fowler lifted a broken-bat pop fly into short left. Ryan Braun, Hernan Perez and Orlando Arcia all converged but nobody made an attempt to catch the ball and three runs scored. The ball should have been caught by Braun, but he pealed off at the last second. He said after the game the ball should have been his.
The Cardinals scored four more times in the seventh with two of the four runs scoring on bases loaded walks.
Brewers pitchers combined to walk nine Cardinal hitters on the night.
Gio Gonzalez started for the Brewers, pitching five innings while allowing 1 run on 3 hits with 4 walks and striking out 6. His pitch count reached 92 through five innings, forcing Craig Counsell to go to the bullpen.
The Brewers fell four-games behind the Cardinals in the Central Division standings and 3 1/2 games out of the last Wild Card spot.