ST. LOUIS — A Cardinals offense scuffling of late and an opposing pitcher who’d given out nearly three times as many strikeouts as hits through his first three starts wasn’t a stellar recipe for a breakout day at the plate. Yet the Cardinals scratched and clawed their way into extra innings with a run in the bottom of the ninth.

However, Cardinals closer Ryan Helsey gave up a single to Milwaukee Brewers star catcher William Contreras, the younger brother of Cardinals starting catcher Willson Contreras, and that drove in the automatic runner to provide the difference in extra innings.

The struggling Cardinals offense failed to match the run in the bottom of the 10th in a 2-1 loss to the Brewers in front of an announced crowd of 40,147 in the series opener at Busch Stadium on Friday night.

The Cardinals got the tying run to third base with two outs in the 10th inning, but the Brewers intentionally walked Willson Contreras. Nolan Gorman struck out looking to end the game with runners on second and third. Gorman’s strikeout was his fourth of the game.

Cardinals starting pitcher Kyle Gibson allowed one run on three hits and four walks in six innings. He also struck out three for his second quality start of the season (four total starts).

Willson Contreras (1 for 2, two walks) extended his hitting streak to 12 consecutive games as well as his on-base streak to 24 games dating back to last season. The streaks are respectively the longest of Contreras’ career.

Lars Nootbaar (1 for 4, walk), Masyn Winn (1 for 3) and Nolan Arenado (1 for 5) also had hits in the loss.

Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta, who entered the day with a 2.55 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings, held the Cardinals scoreless over six innings. Peralta allowed just four hits.

The Cardinals made a late push in the ninth with a two-out walk by Winn and a pinch-hit single by Alec Burleson. Pinch hitter Ivan Herrera then got hit by a pitch from reliever Joel Payamps to load the bases. Brendan Donovan walked to force in the tying run, and Paul Goldschmidt’s strikeout with the bases loaded sent the game into extra innings.

Standing on defense

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