Cardinals Can't Solve Randy Wolf; Adam Wainwright's Home Winning Streak Snapped

St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) – Lorenzo Cain doubled, tripled, drove in one and scored twice to back 8 1/3 solid innings from Randy Wolf, as the Milwaukee Brewers held on for a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, earning a sweep of a brief two-game set at Busch Stadium.

Alcides Escobar added a sacrifice fly and George Kottaras knocked in the other run for Milwaukee, which has won four of six. Escobar exited with a leg injury with two outs in the ninth.

Wolf (10-9) notched his third consecutive win after limiting the Cardinals to one run on three hits. The left-hander walked one and fanned four. Trevor Hoffman struck out Brendan Ryan with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth to lock down the win. It was Hoffman’s 598th career save, which extends an MLB record.

Matt Holliday had an RBI double and scored a run for the Cardinals, who tied a season-high with four straight losses.

Adam Wainwright (17-7), suffered his first home loss of the year for yielding three runs on seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts over seven innings.

With the Brewers in front 3-0, Wolf gave up a one-out double to Albert Pujols in the bottom of the ninth and was promptly lifted in favor of John Axford. The young closer was greeted by a run-scoring double by Holliday, then hit Skip Schumaker with a pitch. After Yadier Molina took a called third strike at the knees, Aaron Miles hit a chopper to first that Prince Fielder played into an error to make it a 3-2 game and leave runners on the corners. Pinch-hitter Colby Rasmus then drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases

Brewers manager Ken Macha elected to go to his bullpen for Hoffman, who fanned Ryan on three pitches to end the game.

Starting pitching limited the offensive chances until the Brewers broke through for a run in the fifth. Cain reached with a leadoff double to center and stole third with one out. Kottaras then hit a slow roller to Wainwright, who was unable to field cleanly and Cain scampered home.

The Brewers tacked on two more in the seventh. Fielder singled leading off and scored two batters later on Cain’s triple to center. Escobar followed with a sac fly for a 3-0 game.

Meanwhile, Wolf retired 10 in a row before hitting Ryan with two outs in the eighth. The crafty left-hander then retired Felipe Lopez on a force out.

Despite the loss, the Cardinals have still won 15 of their last 26 versus the Brewers…Wainwright had won three straight starts and seven of his past eight decisions coming in. The right-hander saw his scoreless streak end at 25 2/3 innings. He dropped to 11-1 at Busch Stadium this season.

Adam Wainwright Hopes To Continue Perfect Busch Stadium Run Against The Brewers

(Sports Network) - The Milwaukee Brewers have gotten a first-hand look this year at just how dominating St. Louis Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright can be. Looking to play the role of spoiler, the team gets a chance this afternoon to deal the All-Star right-hander his first loss at home this season.

Milwaukee will try to solve Wainwright and stretch St. Louis' losing streak to a season high-tying four straight games today in the finale of a two-game set at Busch Stadium.

The Brewers handed the Cardinals a disheartening 3-2 setback on Tuesday night, getting all three unearned runs in the third inning after a Felipe Lopez fielding error. Prince Fielder hit into a double play right after the miscue that plated a run before Casey McGehee drilled a two-run homer.

Starting pitcher Dave Bush did his part for Milwaukee, allowing just four hits -- one a solo homer by Albert Pujols -- over six innings before exiting due to a blister on his right index finger. Though the Cardinals got to within a run in the eighth on a John Axford wild pitch, the closer recorded the final five outs to notch his 18th save.

"It's nice to be able to stick it to a team that's up there in our league right now," Axford said.

While Milwaukee won for just the third time in eight games, St. Louis dropped its third in a row, one shy of a season-worst four-game slide posted from June 6-9. The Cardinals fell two games back of Cincinnati for first place in the National League Central and 1 1/2 back of the Wild Card spot.

St. Louis hurler Jaime Garcia took the loss even though he gave up just the three unearned runs over six frames.

"I thought he was in some of his best form," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said of Garcia. "I think he was outstanding."

La Russa has seen Wainwright in top form all year, and he hopes his hurler can keep it up tonight. Wainwright's 17 wins are tied with Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez for most in the majors and he leads all of baseball with a 1.99 earned run average.

The 28-year-old has won three straight starts and seven of his past eight decisions. He carries a 21-inning scoreless streak into this outing and followed a two-hit shutout of the Marlins on Aug. 6 with seven innings of two- hit ball Wednesday versus the Reds, a victory that had put the Cardinals into first place in the standings.

Wainwright, who is 11-0 with a 1.22 ERA in 12 starts at home this year, has won both of his starts versus the Brewers this year, allowing just a run over 18 innings while striking out 17.

Fielder and Ryan Braun are a combined 0-for-14 with five strikeouts versus Wainwright this year, while Corey Hart has the lone RBI off him with a solo homer.

Drawing the tough task of opposing Wainwright is left-hander Randy Wolf, who has won back-to-back starts and has pitched to a 3.16 ERA in four outings since allowing 12 runs in a setback to the Pirates on July 21.

Wolf beat Arizona on Thursday even though he gave up four runs, seven hits and four walks over six innings, fanning eight while improving to 9-9 with a 4.86 ERA.

Wolf, who turns 34 on Sunday, beat the Cardinals on July 1 with 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball and is 4-6 with a 3.64 ERA in his career versus them.

He won't have to face Colby Rasmus, as the St. Louis outfielder is expected to be out of the starting lineup for a second game in a row due to a strained right calf. Rasmus did pinch-hit in last night's contest.

The Cardinals have won 15 of their last 25 versus the Brewers, though the clubs have split eight meetings this year at Busch Stadium.