MILWAUKEE — It had been more than six weeks since Dakota Hudson had allowed a home run, but that streak ended at a bad time for Hudson and the Cardinals.
Tyrone Taylor’s three-run homer in the fourth inning wiped out a 2-1 lead for the Cardinals and sent the Brewers to the win on Thursday in Milwaukee.
Hudson had made seven starts, and pitched 46 innings, since he last gave up a home run on May 8. He had to wait four batters before allowing another homer, to Willy Adames leading off the fifth.
The Cardinals and Brewers ended the four-game series exactly where they began on Monday, in a tie for first in the NL Central after each time won twice.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: Paul Goldschmidt doubled to drive in Nolan Gorman in the first inning, then scored himself when the Brewers committed two throwing errors on the play … Lars Nootbaar cut the deficit to 4-3 when he hit his second home run of the season, leading off the fifth … The Cardinals again pulled within one run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Juan Yepez, who just missed hitting a three-run homer … They threatened again in the seventh when they put two runners on with one out, but Gorman lined out and Goldschmidt popped out … The Cardinals were just 1-of-6 with runners in scoring position and were retired in order by Devin Williams in the eighth and Josh Hader in the ninth. They have not scored a run against Hader in their last 12 games since Tommy Edman homered on Sept. 15, 2019.
On the mound: The Brewers put their leadoff hitter on base in seven of the eight innings they batted and that batter ended up scoring three of their runs … Hudson gave up seven hits and walked three in his 4 1/3 innings of work … Junior Fernandez pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his first appearance since being recalled from Memphis before Zack Thompson worked a scoreless seventh inning.
Key stat: The Cardinals bullpen did not allow a run, and gave up just four hits, in 14 2/3 combined innings in the series before the Brewers scored in the eighth inning. Nick Witttgren allowed a runner he inherited from Drew VerHagen to score after entering the game with the bases loaded and no outs.
Worth noting: The Cardinals scored two runs in the first inning in each of the last three games of the series bur had just two more two-run innings in the other 33 innings in the series … The Cardinals starters combined for just 18 1/3 innings in the four games against the Brewers, while the bullpen was asked to cover 15 2/3 innings.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals return to Busch Stadium to host the Cubs for the first time season on Friday night in the opener of the weekend series. Andre Pallante will get the start.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
