Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal took the mound for Sunday's ninth inning with a two-run lead and the hope of setting his club's save record (48).
Instead he had his worst appearance of the season, and the Cardinals lost to the Brewers 8-4 in front of an announced crowd of 45,021 at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals' magic number for clinching the National League Central Division remains at five.
The Cardinals mustered one run in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn't enough to overcome a Brewers grand slam and three-run homer in the top of that inning.