Season Ends at 77-85: Cardinals Swept in Milwaukee After Pallante Allows Six, Bernal's Homer Arrives Too Late

STL  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 -- 4
MIL  3 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 -- 6

The Cardinals went 4-for-30 and lost 6-4 yesterday afternoon in Milwaukee as the Brewers finished a three-game sweep. Milwaukee built a 6-run lead across the first four innings -- 3 in the first, 2 in the third, 1 in the fourth -- and the Cardinals managed no offense through seven before a four-run eighth. Leo Bernal's three-run home run (his fifth of the season) drove in Jordan Walker and Iván Herrera, but the rally arrived too late.

Key performer: Leo Bernal -- 1-for-2, 2 BB, 3 RBI, HR.

THE BREAKDOWN

WHAT WORKED
• Leo Bernal's three-run homer in the eighth -- the only Cardinals scoring inning of the afternoon -- made it a two-run game. He drove in Walker and Iván Herrera, doing the maximum with a lineup that had spent seven innings without a run.
• Pedro Pagés reached base three times (1-for-1, 2 BB), one of two Cardinals to draw multiple walks.
• Justin Bruihl (2 IP, 0 runs) and Hancel Rincon (1 IP, 2 K, 0 runs) shut out Milwaukee from the sixth inning on, preventing the margin from widening beyond 6.

WHAT DIDN'T
• Andre Pallante gave up 6 runs on 10 hits across 5 innings. Milwaukee scored in the first, third, and fourth before the bullpen took over, leaving the Cardinals in a 6-run hole they could not fully escape.
• The lineup went 4-for-30 as a team, with no runs across the first seven innings. It took until the eighth for any offensive burst from a group that collectively produced just four hits.
• Jackson Chourio's 3-for-4 afternoon (2 RBI) was the engine of Milwaukee's offense -- he scored twice and drove in two, with run-scoring singles in the first and the fourth to help stake Milwaukee to its lead.