The St Louis Cardinals allowed four runs with two outs in the first inning, which was more than enough for the Milwaukee Brewers to claim a series split with a 6-2 final over the Redbirds on Wednesday, May 6.

The Brewers took advantage of a two-out single to Brice Turang and hit-by-pitch absorbed by William Contreras, when Jake Bauers sent a sharp line drive to left field. Andrew Vaughn followed that up with a three-run home run to left-center field, his first of the season. The four-run lead was more than enough of a cushion for Brandon Sproat, who went four innings and struck out five, allowing a hit and three walks. Park Hill alumnus Aaron Ashby pitched two innings in relief, allowing just a walk and striking another batter out, to claim his sixth win of the year.

Meanwhile, Andre Pallante was tagged with the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and two walks across six innings. That included a wild pitch in the fifth that scored Joey Ortiz. The Brewers added a run in the the ninth with a Jackson Chourio double.

The Cardinals were limited to four hits while striking out nine times. Alec Burleson ended the shutout with a grounder to right field in the eighth inning to score Victor Scott II. José Fermín reached on a fielding error in the ninth that brought home Nolan Gorman.

The Cardinals (21-15) remain second in the NL Central, but continue to lose ground on a surging Chicago Cubs squad in the midst of an eight-game winning streak, with the gap in the division now 3.5 games. A west coast road trip begins Thursday for the Redbirds when they visit San Diego for a four-game series against the Padres. Matthew Liberatore gets the start against Michael King; first pitch at Petco Park is at 9:10 p.m.