MILWAUKEE -- Brewers rookie Jackson Chourio hit a tying home run in the third inning that put him on the cusp of a 20/20 season at 20 years old. Then he hit a tying double in the fifth. When it looked like he’d have a chance to win the game with two outs and two runners aboard in the 10th, the Cardinals put up four fingers for an intentional walk.

“They’re watching the same thing we’re watching,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He was terrific again today.”

Teams tangle with Milwaukee’s phenom at their own peril these days, and in this case, the cautious calculus paid off. Blake Perkins struck out to end the Brewers’ threat on a night Milwaukee's offense was lacking in the late innings. The Cardinals took advantage and scored in the 11th and 12th, sending Milwaukee to a 7-4 loss at American Family Field on Tuesday.

The Brewers have made big strides at the plate this season, but the bats have gone quiet twice in the past three days. In an 11-inning loss in Cincinnati on Sunday, Milwaukee ended the game with an 0-for-21 skid. On Tuesday, the club finished with a 1-for-22 skid.

The one hit came on a fluky play that kept the Brewers alive in the bottom of the 11th. For a split-second, it looked as if Cards center fielder Michael Siani had made a diving, game-ending catch of Willy Adames’ sinking line drive, but the baseball popped out for an RBI double and a 4-4 tie.

The Brewers’ elation was short-lived. Elvis Peguero, called up from Triple-A Nashville earlier in the day, surrendered three runs in the 12th and absorbed a loss in his return to the Majors. Naturally, Siani drove in the go-ahead runs by dumping a base hit into left field where no one could catch it.

Even in defeat, the Brewers inched closer to playing October baseball for the sixth time in the last seven years. A Cubs loss means the Brewers remained 10 games atop the National League Central with 23 games to play.

That was little solace to Murphy.

"You can credit the St. Louis pitching if you want because I think they did a really nice job,” he said. “It just wasn’t our normal output by a mile.”

Is that just baseball, or did the fact that the Brewers played two similarly quiet games in the same week get under the skipper’s skin?

“It’s under my skin, obviously. I take it maybe too personally,” Murphy said. “That’s just me. I love the guys. I don’t get mad at the guys. I wish they understood how they’re capable of staying mentally tough there. We faced some good pitching, too."

That was the case over the final four innings against Cardinals left-hander Matthew Liberatore and right-handed closer Ryan Helsley. The Brewers had runners at second and third with one out against Liberatore in the 10th when Brewers' second baseman Brice Turang bunted back to the mound, giving Liberatore an out at home and a path to escaping the inning after he intentionally walked Chourio.

In the 11th, Adames’ double put the winning run in scoring position, but Sal Frelick struck out.

“You can second-guess and try to overdo it,” Murphy said. “But we know their moves, they know our moves. They did some good things at the end to execute, and we didn’t.”

Brewers starter Aaron Civale surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the first but managed to hold the line at three runs over five innings of work to give Brewers hitters a chance to stage a comeback. Chourio and fellow rookie Joey Ortiz hit solo homers to lift the Brewers into a 2-2 tie in the third inning. After Paul Goldschmidt homered off Civale in the fourth, Chourio tied the game again in the fifth when he hit a two-out RBI double.

It continued a magical run for the rookie from Maracaibo, Venezuela, who has hit four home runs in his last eight games to put himself on the cusp of 20/20. He already has 20 stolen bases.

Civale had relief help from Aaron Ashby (two innings), Trevor Megill, Devin Williams and Joel Payamps, who combined to hold St. Louis scoreless on one hit before the Cards broke through for an unearned run against Milwaukee left-hander Jared Koenig in the 11th.

“There were a couple too many barrels for my liking [in the first inning],” Civale said. “I’d like to adjust quicker next time.”