Brewers 4, Cardinals 3, 10 innings
ST. LOUIS -- Just when it appeared that Milwaukee would spend a winless and scoreless weekend at Busch Stadium, its punchless offense roared to life.
Jonathan Lucroy's one-out homer in the top of the 10th inning on Sunday capped an unlikely comeback from a 3-0 deficit as the Brewers ended St. Louis' four-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory.
Brandon Kintzler (1-0) worked 1 1/3 innings for the win and Burke Badenhop got the last out, inducing a groundout from pinch-hitter Carlos Beltran with the potential winning runs on board, for his first save as Milwaukee (3-8) snapped a three-game losing streak.
Fernando Salas (0-2) picked up the loss for the Cardinals (7-5), whose bullpen wasted seven shutout innings from starter Jaime Garcia.
The Brewers snapped a club-record streak of 32 scoreless innings when Ryan Braun lined a two-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole in the top of the eighth inning off Trevor Rosenthal, cutting the Cardinals' lead to one run.
It was the first runs for the Brewers since the second inning of a 6-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. Braun's shot also snapped a 39 1/3-inning scoreless streak for St. Louis pitching, dating to a 5-1 win on Tuesday over Cincinnati.
Milwaukee evened the score off closer Mitchell Boggs in the ninth when Yuniesky Betancourt lined a double to the wall in right-center field, scoring Carlos Gomez from first.
Marco Estrada (1-1) pitched decently for Milwaukee, surrendering seven hits and three runs in six innings. But he was touched for four straight two-out hits in the third that put the Cardinals in front.
Matt Carpenter lofted a ground-rule double down the left-field line and scored on Matt Holliday's single to left for a 1-0 lead. After Allen Craig singled, Yadier Molina rifled a double to left center that scored Carpenter. Craig was called out at the plate, although replays showed his hand touched the plate before Lucroy's tag.
Matt Adams made it 3-0 in the fourth with a line-drive homer to center field, his third home run in 16 at-bats.
NOTES: Milwaukee third baseman Alex Gonzalez (left hand contusion) wasn't able to play for a second straight day after being hit by a Shelby Miller fastball on Friday night. Gonzalez is hoping to return Tuesday night when the Brewers play host to San Francisco ... Molina received his 2012 Gold Glove award in a pregame ceremony. It's the second straight honor for Molina ... Adam Wainwright's shutout Saturday was the first by a Cardinals pitcher to include a strikeout in every inning since Bob Gibson did it at San Diego on June 17, 1970.
