The St. Louis Cardinals suffered their first loss since September 10 on Wednesday night, dropping a 4-0 contest (box score) against the Milwaukee Brewers to snap their 17-game winning streak. The Cardinals’ winning streak had been the longest in the majors since Cleveland won 22 games in a row in 2017.
The Cardinals fell behind early, with Milwaukee taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an Eduardo Escobar groundout. Daniel Vogelbach launched a two-run home run, his ninth of the season, in the sixth inning to give Milwaukee a 3-0 lead. An inning later, Manny Piña hit his 13th home run of the season, making it 4-0.
St. Louis’ lineup, meanwhile, was stymied throughout the night by Brewers right-hander Adrian Houser. Though Houser recorded just one strikeout on the night, he threw five shutout innings, surrendering three hits and two walks.
The Cardinals had not scored fewer than four runs in a game since September 21, or seven victories ago. What’s more is the Cardinals had not been held under three runs since September 12, when they recorded a 2-0 win against the Cincinnati Reds. That game marked their second win in a row.
In addition to setting a franchise record, the Cardinals’ winning streak was the longest in the National League since 1937. The Cardinals are now 44-24 since the All-Star Game, a run that lifted them from unlikely contender into a clinched playoff spot. St Louis had been under the .500 mark as recently as August 8, at which point their playoff odds were a dim 3 percent.
The Cardinals clinched the second wild card spot on Tuesday. It’s to be determined whether St. Louis plays the San Francisco Giants or the Los Angeles Dodgers in next Tuesday’s Wild Card Game. Either way, the Cardinals will enter that contest as the underdog. (The Dodgers, for their part, entered Wednesday trailing the Giants by two games in the NL West race.)
The Cardinals will wrap up their series with the Brewers on Thursday afternoon. This weekend, they’ll host the Chicago Cubs for three games in a season-ending series.
