The Cardinals saw their six-game winning streak come to an end on Thursday with a 4-3 loss to the Brewers at Busch Stadium. The Redbirds never led in the game, as Russell Branyan got things going for Milwaukee with a solo home run off St. Louis starter Jason Marquis in the second inning.
Geoff Jenkins made it 2-0 Brewers with an RBI single in the third inning. In the fourth Reggie Sanders hit his fifth home run of the season to get the Cardinals within one. But in the top of the fifth, Brady Clark belted a two-run double and Milwaukee took a 4-1 advantage.
St. Louis came close thanks to Roger Cedeno’s infield single, which scored Hector Luna in the seventh inning. In the eighth, Luna reached on a fielder’s choice and Scott Rolen scored to make it 4-3. In the ninth, Albert Pujols had the tying run on first, but flied out to center to end the game.
Jason Marquis suffered his first loss of the season, allowing four runs off five hits and two walks in seven innings of work.
