MILWAUKEE -- Twenty-four hours and change after Milwaukee’s run-averse offense reached rock-bottom and the Cubs danced around Miller Park’s infield celebrating a no-hitter, the Brewers found themselves three outs away from a doubleheader sweep that would have put them in postseason position for the first time in two weeks. 

This being 2020, however, nothing comes easy. 

With A-list relievers Devin Williams and Josh Hader having pitched in the opener and been deemed unavailable for Game 2, the Brewers saw a lead slip away in the seventh on the way to a 3-2 loss in nine innings in the nightcap of a doubleheader that began with the Brewers’ walk-off, 2-1 win in eight innings.

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“We had a pretty good feeling that we were going to be able to take both of those games today,” said Game 2 starter Corbin Burnes. “But it’s one of those things we have to get over real quick. We’ve still got three games in two days [against the Cardinals], then five more against them at their place.”

Instead of moving a hair ahead of the Cardinals and into second place in the National League Central, the Brewers fell all the way to fourth. That’s how bunched is the race for second place and a 2020 playoff berth, with 21-21 St. Louis four games behind division-leading Chicago and, with a .500 winning percentage, just ahead of the 23-26 Reds (.469) and the 21-25 Brewers (.457).

The top two teams in each division make the playoffs this season, plus two Wild Card teams in each league.

“We’re going to get to know these guys real well,” Burnes said. “It’s going to go in one of two ways. We’re going to go out there and take care of business, and play good baseball the rest of the way. If not, we’re going to come out on the short end of it.”

The problem for the Brewers was, as usual, the offense.

Milwaukee scored two runs on four hits in each game and went a combined 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position, including 1-for-7 with five strikeouts in extra innings when the teams started with an automatic runner at second base. That hit belonged to Braun, who for days had been the only Brewers hitter to drive in a run since their 19-0 win at Detroit last week, but was finally joined by Keston Hiura on the winning sacrifice fly in Game 1 and by Jedd Gyorko on a two-run home run in Game 2.

The Brewers generally don’t bunt, and they stuck to that policy on Monday, save for Orlando Arcia’s one-strike attempt in the eighth inning of Game 2. He pushed it foul up the first-base line, then struck out. In the extra innings of Game 2, the Brewers were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position including four strikeouts.

“Hits are the reason we're not scoring,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We're not getting hits. Guys on first and second, we have to get hits. I don't know how many hits we had in the first game but only four in the second. That's not enough hits.”

The Brewers did pitch well, however. Josh Lindblom rejoined the Brewers’ rotation for Game 1 and worked five scoreless innings in his best start to date. In Game 2, Burnes became the first pitcher in Brewers history to log double-digit strikeouts without completing a fifth inning, but needed 101 pitches for 14 outs in what he called “a fight” with Cardinals hitters.

“Overall, I was happy with how I was able to minimize the damage,” Burnes said, “but I definitely need to do a better job there getting into the sixth or seventh, especially in a doubleheader.”

Alex Claudio allowed an inherited runner to score in the fifth inning but prevented a blow-up, and Eric Yardley finished the sixth before being burned by longtime Brewers nemesis Paul Goldschmidt in the at-bat of the day in the seventh. Goldschmidt fouled off five two-strike pitches before doubling on the 11th pitch of the at-bat. He eventually scored on Cardinals third baseman Brad Miller's single.

Rookie Drew Rasmussen prevented any more runs in that inning, then pitched a scoreless eighth before another rookie, Justin Topa, who’d been summoned to serve as the 29th man, took the loss in the ninth. Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong hit a line-drive single that barely eluded the glove of a lunging Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia to bring home the go-ahead run.

Unlike Game 1, the Brewers didn’t have an answer this time.

“Obviously, it’s hard to beat a team two times in a row on separate days, let alone on the same day, especially given the seven-inning [games],” Hiura said. “We still have plenty more baseball against the Cardinals, and they’re going to mean a lot more.”