​The Milwaukee Brewers dropped a 5-1 decision to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday at Busch Stadium, the fourth game in their five-game series. After opening the series by taking the first three games, Milwaukee’s chance at a sweep ended with this loss and their four-game winning streak was snapped.
Earlier in the series, the Brewers had shown a knack for climbing out of early deficits, but on Wednesday they were unable to mount a comeback. The trouble began in the bottom of the first inning when St. Louis immediately challenged Kyle Harrison and the Milwaukee defense. Harrison surrendered a leadoff double to Masyn Winn, then allowed an RBI double to Jordan Walker with one out to put the Cardinals up 1-0. After striking out Nelson Velázquez, Harrison again gave up an RBI double, this time to Alec Burleson, widening the gap to 2-0 by the end of the frame. The Brewers managed to hold St. Louis at bay in the second and third innings, keeping the Cardinals from adding to their lead, but Milwaukee’s offense could not respond.
In the fourth, the Cardinals added another run. After forcing Burleson into a groundout, Harrison gave up a solo homer to Jose Fermin. The Brewers escaped the inning, but with a three-run deficit to overcome, the task looked daunting. Milwaukee failed to produce in the top of the fifth, and Pat Murphy handed the ball to the bullpen, ending Harrison’s night after four innings. He finished with four hits allowed, three earned runs, and two strikeouts, taking the loss for just the second time in the 2026 season.
Grant Anderson came on in relief for Harrison and retired the side in order, but Milwaukee’s offense did not respond. The sixth inning proved costly for the Brewers, as St. Louis greeted Anderson with a leadoff single and, after a strikeout, Murphy pulled him in favor of Jared Koenig. Burleson greeted Koenig with a two-run home run, stretching the Cardinals’ lead to 5-0 and leaving Milwaukee with an insurmountable deficit.
With the game slipping away, Milwaukee still had a glimmer of hope. The seventh inning produced a spark, though not enough to ignite a full rally. Garrett Mitchell doubled and Luis Lara singled to put runners on the corners, and Cooper Pratt followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Mitchell, finally putting the Brewers on the board. Joey Ortiz then delivered a two-out double, but Andrew Vaughn grounded out to end the inning. From that point, Milwaukee managed only one more hit for the remainder of the game and could not mount another significant threat.
Offensively, the Brewers finished 7-for-32 at the plate with nine strikeouts, a rough day that left them unable to sustain any sustained scoring opportunities against a Cardinals pitching staff that held firm after the early trouble. The loss on Wednesday halted Milwaukee’s bid to sweep the series and marked a disappointing end to their four-game win streak, a streak that had previously shown the resilience and late-inning burst the team often displays when it can generate offense.
In summary, St. Louis’s early punches proved too much for Milwaukee to overcome, despite a late seventh-inning response. The Brewers will look to rebound in the final game of the series as they seek to salvage a split, carrying forward the lessons from a day when the offense couldn’t catch up after the initial deficit and the pitching staff faced an uphill battle from the outset.