ST. LOUIS _ Getting a start only because the Milwaukee Brewers were eliminated from the wild-card race the previous day, Aaron Wilkerson pitched seven strong innings Sunday to highlight a season-ending 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
A September call-up who fared poorly in his only other start in a costly loss in Pittsburgh, Wilkerson allowed no hits until the sixth inning. He allowed two hits and a run in picking up his first major-league victory.
The Brewers, who were not expected to be a contender in 2017, finished with an 86-76 record after being the last team to be eliminated.
Both teams switched starting pitchers for the finale after the Brewers were eliminated from playoff contention the previous day. Wilkerson replaced Zach Davies for the Brewers and Jack Flaherty subbed for Carlos Martinez for the Cardinals.
Unlike Wilkerson, Flaherty got off to a rough start as the Brewers scored four runs in the first, boosting their total to 114 for the season in that inning. Eric Sogard led off with a walk, Jonathan Villar singled and Eric Thames also walked to load the bases with one out.
Jesus Aguilar's sacrifice fly to right made it 1-0 and Flaherty gave himself a chance to hold it to that by striking out Hernan Perez. But rookie Brett Phillips continued his strong showing of late by blasting a three-run homer out to center.
After the Brewers took that early four-run lead, the teams played as if their buses were double-parked, not an uncommon occurrence when there is nothing at stake on the final day of the season.
The Cardinals produced nothing close to a hit against Wilkerson until pinch-hitter Jose Martinez ended the bid with two outs in the sixth on an opposite-field single to right. His shutout string was halted the next inning when Randal Grichuk smacked a one-out home run to left.
The Brewers, who were unable to add on runs Saturday when they blew an early six-run lead and lost, 7-6, put two more on the board in the eighth when Aguilar ripped a two-run homer to left-center, his 16th of the season.
