ST. LOUIS _ Led by starter Jack Flaherty, St. Louis Cardinals pitchers combined to record 17 strikeouts Saturday night at Busch Stadium.
But two big blows by the Milwaukee Brewers were enough to lift them to a 5-2 win as the Chicago Cubs moved within three games in the NL Central. Milwaukee is four games back.
Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal hit two-run home runs and the Cardinals failed to generate much offense after scoring the first two runs of the game in the second inning.
Even with Christian Yelich out of the picture with an injury, Milwaukee can pack a punch. Moustakas hit his 34th homer after a single by Trent Grisham in the fourth inning, and Grandal hit his 27th after Grisham walked in the eighth.
Flaherty (10-8) had 10 strikeouts in six innings but allowed the Moustakas homer and a run in the sixth after the Brewers loaded the bases with a single and two walks.
Tyler Webb pitched the eighth and gave up the walk to Grisham and Grandal's homer.
After Flaherty left the game, John Gant struck out the side in the seventh inning, John Brebbia struck out one in the eighth and Junior Fernandez struck out the side in the ninth.
The Cardinals jumped on top in the second on a home run by Tommy Edman. Harrison Bader then singled and was sacrificed to second by Flaherty.
Bader then took off for third base with Milwaukee playing a shift. Moustakas, who was positioned at shortstop, hustled to cover the bag, but Grandal's throw sailed wide and into left field, allowing Bader to score.
The Cardinals moved only one runner past first base the rest of the game, stranding Dexter Fowler at third in the fifth.
Grandal hit a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning to extend Milwaukee's lead over the Cardinals to 5-2.
Reliever Tyler Webb started the inning by walking Grisham, who has reached base three times in the game.
Webb was replaced by Brebbia after walking Moustakas, and he escaped the inning with runners at first and second by recording the 14th strikeout by a Cardinals pitcher on the night.
Milwaukee generated a run after loading the bases in the sixth inning with only one hit to take a 3-2 lead against the Cardinals into the seventh inning at Busch Stadium.
Flaherty walked Grandal with one out and then allowed a single by Moustakas. He then walked Ryan Braun.
Eric Thames came to the plate 0-for-14 for his career against Flaherty but was able to reach safely on a fielder's choice that scored Grandal.
The top of the Cardinals order has become productive with Dexter Fowler holding down the leadoff positive and Kolten Wong following in the No. 2 spot. They were especially effective on Friday night, reaching base and setting up Paul Goldschmidt's big night.
Wong continued to see his average rise with three hits in the 10-0 win that pushed him to .287, which would be a career best. And Fowler reached three times on walks as his on-base percentage reached .355.
"Those guys at the top set the table for the guys that eat in the middle and sometimes eating themselves," manage Mike Shildt said. "Kolten drove in a couple (Friday) and Dexter hit a big home run to start the game off in Denver (Thursday).
"Really it's about everyone in the lineup taking good at-bats and setting up the guy behind them. It happens to be the top of the order that's getting noticed, but it's happening throughout the lineup."
Goldschmidt was quick to give credit to those two after hitting a grand slam and three-run homer. And they have done what's necessary to get on base and make things happen.
