Opportunity slips through Cards’ fingers

MILWAUKEE — Ordinarily, winning two out of three on the road is a cause for rejoicing, or at least taking a relaxing, deep breath.

But for the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park this week, winning two out of three from the Brewers was actually a small slump. After prevailing in the first two games of the series, the Cardinals lost Wednesday, 3-1.

Coming into Wednesday, the Cardinals had won 30 of the last 40 games at Miller Park. That may be a remarkable road record against any Major League team, but it is also better than two out of three.

And given the Cardinals’ position at the one-third mark of this season, a sweep was needed here — for momentum, for forward motion, for progress. They have substantial ground to make up. Two out of three against the Brewers, when the final game of the series is a loss, doesn’t quite qualify.

The Cardinals also had some rotation momentum built up, with six straight outings from their starters that varied from solid to exceptionally good. That streak also came to an end Wednesday.

Jaime Garcia never gained total command of the strike zone and his performance was doubtless worse than his line indicated. He was charged with two runs over five innings, but the Brewers twice left the bases loaded. Garcia limited the damage, but you were left with the thought that against an offense with more force than Milwaukee’s, this game would have been over by the time Garcia departed.

The villain of the piece, from the Cardinals’ perspective, was an unlikely candidate for that role. Brewers starter …

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