Cardinals bullpen blows shot at sweep of Brewers

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Adams and Jaime Garcia did just fine for the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Too bad for them, the bullpen didn't fare so well. The Milwaukee Brewers rallied late and Jonathan Lucroy's home run in the 10th inning gave them a 4-3 win.

Garcia pitched seven innings of shutout ball, working around seven hits and two walks.

"As Jaime pitched as well as he did, it's tough to see it end that way," St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.

The Brewers had gone a team-record 32 innings without scoring before Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer off reliever Trevor Rosenthal in the eighth that made it 3-2.

Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia throws to a Brewers batter during the first inning Sunday in St. Louis. (Jeff Roberson ~ Associated Press)

Braun's second home run of the season snapped a 39-inning shutout streak for St. Louis pitchers. The Brewers had not scored since the second inning Tuesday against the Cubs.

Matheny would have preferred to let the Cardinals closer for now, Mitchell Boggs, pitch the ninth with a cushion. But after Braun connected off Rosenthal, he did not have that luxury.

"The situations you get put into, you got to figure out a way to get out of them," Matheny said.

Milwaukee tied it in the ninth on a leadoff single by Carlos Gomez and an RBI double by Yuniesky Betancourt. Boggs left without retiring a batter and blew his second save in five chances.

"Days like today are tough," Boggs said. "I'm not going to stand here and act like it doesn't affect me, because I care. I wanted to help us win a ballgame today. I didn't do that. If you're a professional, you show up the next day and do your job."

After retiring Rickie Weeks on a fly to start the 10th, Fernando Salas (0-2) gave up Lucroy's first home run of the season.

Brandon Kintzler (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth and got the first out in the 10th. Burke Badenhop retired pinch-hitter Carlo Beltran on a grounder for the final out and his first save.

Adams had another big day in the loss, hitting a home run and a single. He has homered in three straight games and has a hit in all five games he has played.

Adams is batting .611 (11 for 18) with three homers and eight RBI.

"I'm seeing it well, and feeling good at that plate," Adams said. "It all comes back to the work I'm getting in the cage before the game and making sure I watch the video and I'm prepared."

Matt Holliday had an RBI single and Yadier Molina an RBI double for the other St. Louis runs.

The Cardinals broke through against Marco Estrada with four consecutive two-out hits in the third, including an RBI single by Holliday and an RBI double to the gap by Molina. Allen Craig was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Molina's hit.

Adams made it five straight hits when he led off the fourth with a 419-foot homer to center that made it 3-0.