ST. LOUIS (AP) Khris Davis homered off Trevor Rosenthal leading off the ninth inning and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 Friday night.
The loss cut the Cardinals' NL Central lead to three games over Pittsburgh with eight games remaining.
Rosenthal (2-3) was St. Louis' eighth reliever after Carlos Martinez lasted just seven pitches before leaving with tightness in his pitching shoulder.
Davis' 24th homer was just the second allowed by the St. Louis closer; the other was by Pittsburgh's Jung Ho Kang on May 3 in St. Louis. Davis was 1 for 5 with four strikeouts against Rosenthal before lining a 1-1 fastball into the right-field bullpen.
Will Smith (7-2) got the Brewers out of danger in the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez earned his 36th save in 38 chances.
Milwaukee has lost 12 of 17 against the Cardinals this season and 53 of the last 77 meetings.
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