MILWAUKEE — At this point, the St. Louis Cardinals have faced so many close games, so many claustrophobic outcomes decided in the late innings and held tight by the bullpen that nothing fazes them when plunged once again into extra innings.

Even a newcomer picks up the pulse by osmosis.

As if dared by the Brewers to pinch-hit for one of their regulars in the 10th inning, the Cardinals did just that by calling on recently promoted Luken Baker for a better matchup against Milwaukee’s lefty Hoby Milner. The slugger judiciously ignored two pitches on the outside edge of the plate before poking a grounder up the middle. The Cardinals’ first run of the game scored on a base hit was enough to send them to a 3-2 victory against the Brewers on Wednesday and a rousing success of a road trip.

The Cardinals went into the Bronx and made a handful of history in a series win against the Yankees and then headed into the heartland for their final regular-season series against the first-place Brewers. It took extra innings both nights, but the Cardinals won the series and have now one six of their past eight games. They won the final two series against Milwaukee – not enough to chomp into the Brewers’ lead but enough to keep afloat above .500.

“I just love the way they’re going about it right now,” manager Oliver Marmol said.

The Brewers scored runs in the seventh and eighth innings to tie the game and send it into extra innings. Milwaukee opted to intentionally walk Nolan Arenado with two outs to give reliever Joel Payamps is required third batter and allow the switch to Milner to face left-handed hitter Brendan Donovan. The Cardinals went right to Baker for the right-on-left swing, and it paid off with the two-out, RBI single up the middle.

With All-Star closer Ryan Helsley unavailable due to his two innings in Tuesday’s 12-inning victory, Ryan Fernandez finished the game for his second save.

Andrew Kittredge pulled the Cardinals out of a jam in the eighth inning with two strikeouts and piloted them into extra innings with a perfect ninth. That gave the Cardinals a slight edge as they got five outs from their top setup man and the Brewers had to turn away from closer Devin Williams after he overwhelmed the Cardinals in the ninth but did not pitch beyond those three innings.

In his first start of the six-game road trip, Cardinals starter Sonny Gray built of his most recent start and put further distance between him and the 4.00 ERA he had as the end of August approached.

The right-hander retired the first eight batters he faced and showed a feel for an array of pitches early. By the end of seven strong innings and 99 pitches, Gray had throw six different pitchers, four of them at least more than a dozen times, and vexed the Brewers with each of them. Even the curveball that he showed them six times, still coaxed a swing a miss. Most effective for Gray was one of the most effective pitches in the majors – his sweeping slider.

In the few moments Milwaukee threatened, Gray contained innings with the sweeper that he rode to several of his seven strikeouts.

He limited the Brewers to four hits.

The lone run against him came on a groundout.

Lead goes poof on one pitch

Going into the eighth inning, not one of the three runs scored in the game came home on a hit. There were a pair of bases-loaded walks as far back as the first inning and the groundout that scored the only run against Gray.

Denied at home plate by a dynamic throw, Brewers catcher Eric Haase assured no throw would get him this time.

When the Cardinals went to the bullpen for the first time, lefty JoJo Romero opened the eighth, and Haase hit the first pitch from Romero for a solo homer. The backup catcher’s fourth homer of the season knotted the game, 2-2. For the second time in as many nights, the Brewers rallied from a deficit to tie the game and send it that way into the ninth inning.

Kittredge did his part to make that happen.

Thrust into the eighth to rescue the Cardinals, the right-hander struck out both of the hitters he had to in order to keep the score level. The Cardinals called on Kittredge when William Contreras, Willson’s younger brother, came up as a pinch hitter with the go-ahead run on third base. Kittredge struck him out on a full-count sinker. The Cardinals opted to walk cleanup hitter Willy Adames and his 100 RBIs to face Garrett Mitchell, a left-handed batter. Kittredge struck him out on four pitches.

All three strikes were sliders.

All three were swings and misses by Mitchell.

The Brewers finished 0 for 15 with runners in scoring position.

Swiftest pitch to the plate? Winn’s, of course

Masyn Winn’s error with two outs in the inning opened the way for Milwaukee to score that Winn’s sizzling cutoff throw shut down moments later.

With two outs in the third inning and Gray a batter away from a perfect start through three innings, Winn threw wide to first and received a tough error from the official scorer. Instead of a third out, the error put catcher Haase at first base when leadoff hitter Brice Turang lined a ball into the left-center gap. Cardinals center fielder Michael Siani gave chase and made a diving attempt on the ball.

He got a glove on it, but not enough to hold it.

Hesse was off to the races.

As he rounded third to head home, the Cardinals had former pitchers lining up to make the play. First, left fielder Alec Burleson, a two-way standout in college, tracked down the loose ball and zipped it to shortstop Winn. Drafted as a two-way player, Winn can let loose with some 100-mph throws from short if necessary.

It nearly was.

With 193 feet between him and home plate, Winn turned and made what was – to that point in the game – the hardest throw home yet. His relay throw left his fingertips at 97.2 mph, according to Statcast. The ball one-hopped to catcher Ivan Herrera who coolly applied the tag to Hesse for the final out of the inning. Gray’s shutout continued with him handling the most important throws home from there.

Walk(s) before they can run

The Cardinals got their first-inning rally but what really turned it into runs was the walks.

Not usually so gracious as hosts in recent years, the Brewers and their starter Colin Rea issued two two-out walks, and each of them came with the bases loaded to force the Cardinals out to a 2-0 lead before Milwaukee even had its first at-bat. The inning began traditionally enough with Paul Goldschmidt extending his hitting streak to 11 games with a single and Nolan Arenado following with a rulebook double that kept Goldschmidt from scoring.

With both in scoring position, Rea hit Brendan Donovan to load the bases.

He had more gifts to deliver.

Rea missed on a full-count pitch to Herrera to walk the rookie catcher and bring home Goldschmidt. The Brewers’ right-hander then fell behind 3-0 to Lars Nootbaar before walking him too to bring home Arenado and give Nootbaar the RBI.

Rea steadied from there retired 10 of the final 12 Cardinals he faced. The only other Cardinal to reach second base after the walks was Nootbaar in the fourth inning. He singled to lead off the inning and stole second only to watch the inning fizzle from there.

Brewers dent Gray’s start as he leaves

It took a triple to set up Milwaukee’s first run and even then an out brought it home.

Gray had squelched threat after threat by the Brewers throughout the first six innings. A bunt single paired with a wild pitch and a stolen base to put a runner on third in the sixth inning. But that runner got no further as Gray struck out two batters to never flinch in the inning. In the fourth, a leadoff double went nowhere for the Brewers as Gray retired the next three batters.

Center fielder Blake Perkins walked to start the fifth inning and stole second, but Gray kept control of that inning too with two more strikeouts.

He ended it with a 93-mph fastball on the edge of the plate for a called strike 3.

Milwaukee was 0 for 6 against Gray with runners in scoring position, and would not improve on the number of hits in the seventh inning, just the runs produced in those spots. Right fielder Mitchell threaded a ball down the first-base line and into the corner allowing him to sprint for a triple. Gray held him there with his seventh and final strikeout of the game. But when Joey Ortiz bounced a grounder to third base, Mitchell took off and Jose Fermin, spelling Arenado at the corner, took the out at first.

The groundout RBI was the only run Gray allowed in seven innings.

He left with the lead.

That was gone with the first pitch by a Cardinal he did not throw.

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