The Cardinals had runners on first and third with none out in the ninth inning but came up empty handed and lost Sunday afternoon 3-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium.
Brewers’ closer John Axford walked Matt Holliday to start the ninth and pinch runner Tyler Greene went to third on a single by Carlos Beltran before Axford struck out David Freese. Then the Cardinals tried to steal a run when Yadier Molina struck out on a high delivery, with Beltran breaking for second and Greene ready to head home if there was a throw.
When catcher Jonathan Lucroy double-pumped on his throw to second it threw off Greene’s timing. Beltran, meanwhile, stopped early because he thought he’d be a certain out, leaving Greene an easy out on a relay from shortstop Alex Gonzalez.
The Cardinals were up 1-0 when the Brewers got to Jaime Garcia for three runs in the sixth. Aramis Ramirez had an RBI single to tie it and Lucroy, hit a two-run double with a drive off the left-field wall.