The Cardinals lost, 9-7, in 10 innings to the Brewers on Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium, finishing the regular season with three straight losses and eight in the last 10 games. They will enter the playoffs needing to travel to Los Angeles.
St. Louis tied the game in both the eighth and ninth innings before falling behind and losing in the 10th. The Brewers took the lead when second baseman Julio Lugo’s throw to first base was late, allowing Jody Gerut to reach first base and Alcides Escobar to score. The Brewers added another run when Colby Rasmus and Matt Holliday lost a Ryan Braun fly ball in the sun and it fell between them, scoring Felipe Lopez.
The Cardinals tied the game in the eighth with a two run single by David Freese before Prince Fielder launched his second home run of the game, a solo shot to right off Todd Wellemeyer, to put the Brewers ahead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Cardinals drew three straight walks from Trever Hoffman loaded the bases before a fielder’s-choice grounder by Lugo tied the game again.
Albert Pujols had his 185th assist of the season, passing Bill Buckner’s record for the most by a first baseman in a single season in the fifth.