At least in previous losses there was somewhere to point the finger. Either the starting pitching wasn't good enough, the bullpen coughed up the lead or the offense just couldn't score runs.
Saturday afternoon all that has ailed the Milwaukee Brewers combined into a 8-0 loss at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, dropping the Brewers to 2-8, their worst record through 10 games since 2002.
The offense?
The Brewers haven't scored a run since the second inning of Tuesday's loss to the Cubs, 25 innings ago. After being two-hit by rookie Shelby Miller and the Cardinals bullpen Friday night, Cardinals ace right-hander Adam Wainwright struck out 12 in a complete game shutout Saturday afternoon.
Rickie Weeks snapped an 0-for-21 skid with a bloop double, Milwaukee's first hit out of the cleanup spot since Aramis Ramirez went on the disabled list. Ryan Braun is 0-for-7 in the St. Louis' series with six strikeouts.
The pitching?
After Kyle Lohse pitched a dandy in the series opener, Yovani Gallardo appeared to be on his way to doing the same. Gallardo had allowed just three hits and one run through five innings, locating his pitches and looking sharp.
Then the wheels fell off in the sixth inning. Gallardo gave up four hits and five runs -- four were earned -- and recorded just one out in the sixth. Instead of putting together a solid outing, Gallardo dropped to 1-10 with a 6.84 career ERA against the Cardinals.
The sixth inning that put the game out of reach wasn't all on Gallardo. The defense made just one error that led to three unearned runs but had three or four other plays that could have been made. Burke Badenhop and Michael Gonzalez continued their struggles coming out of the bullpen, allowing three hits combined.
If there was a silver lining Saturday it was the large deficit allowed former closer John Axford to get some work in a stress-free inning, and the right-hander worked an easy 1-2-3 inning. Former fifth starter Mike Fiers also threw a perfect inning working in an environment with no pressure.
But other than that there isn't a whole lot going Milwaukee's way right now. Even when the Brewers are putting good wood on the baseball, their opponents are either making great plays or the ball is hit right at somebody.
They need any kind of win in the worst way Sunday just to get some positive momentum heading into a six-game homestand that begins Tuesday against the defending-champion San Francisco Giants. There's plenty of time to right the ship, but Milwaukee must be careful not to dig a hole too deep to climb out of when the team gets healthy.
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