ST. LOUIS -- A.J. Minter allowed a pair of home runs during the decisive eighth inning of a 6-3 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday night at Busch Stadium. The Braves reliever then perfectly summed up the wave of emotions felt over the final four innings of this action-packed contest.

“What a game we play,” Minter said. “We just keep doing it to ourselves. You’ve got to love this game. You come out and it will break your heart one night and then come out and be the hero and be on top of the world [the next day]. It was a tough loss, but it was a great game.”

Jake Odorizzi constructed his best start since joining the Braves and his only costly mistakes were covered by Dansby Swanson’s two-out homer in the seventh. But just as it looked like Swanson would be the hero, Minter allowed home runs to Tommy Edman and Tyler O’Neill.

Instead of celebrating what would have been a spirited win, the Braves lost for just the fourth time in their past 20 games. They sit just three games behind the first-place Mets in the National League East. But they could have been closer had Minter not experienced this heartache just one day after closer Kenley Jansen had blown a one-run ninth-inning lead in Saturday’s loss.

“Even after the tough loss [on Saturday], the guys came out and we gave ourselves a chance to win again," Minter said. "It didn’t happen. We’ll come out and try to win a series on Tuesday.”

This has the potential to be a big week for the Braves. While they are playing the Rockies from Tuesday-Thursday, the Mets will be playing a three-game series against the Dodgers. These matchups could allow Atlanta to gain ground in the division standings.

So it’s safe to say the defending World Series champs know what was squandered when they blew late leads the past two nights in St. Louis. Jansen entered Saturday having converted 17 of his past 18 save opportunities going back to the start of June. Minter entered Sunday having allowed just one home run over his past 22 2/3 innings, going back to June 26.

“We could have easily swept this series,” Minter said. “We’re playing great baseball. There’s no reason for us to hang our heads. It stinks. But we get to get up and keep playing. We have a whole month left to keep playing and we’re going to finish strong.”

Minter’s outing began inauspiciously as Edman drilled the lefty’s first pitch of the night over the center-field wall. The eighth-inning leadoff homer came against a center-cut fastball. After a walk and bunt put two on with none out, the Braves southpaw recorded consecutive strikeouts of MVP candidates Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.

But just when it looked like Minter might have recorded the night’s two biggest outs, he allowed O’Neill to homer against a high-and-away 97.1 mph fastball.

“We had a big homer and they had a big homer, a couple of them,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

It looked like Swanson might have drilled the biggest homer of the night. The Braves shortstop stepped to the plate with two outs in the seventh and drilled Ryan Helsley’s 100.1 mph fastball over the right-center-field wall. The pitch was the sixth-fastest to result in a homer across MLB this season.

Swanson’s three-run shot erased the two runs the Cardinals tallied against Odorizzi, who carried a no-hit bid into the sixth. The Braves right-hander surrendered a two-out homer to Lars Nootbaar, who seemed surprised to reach an elevated outside fastball. Nolan Arenado added a RBI single.

Though Odorizzi allowed hits to each of the final four batters faced, his strong 5 2/3-inning effort extended the success he’s had since simplifying his windup during an Aug. 17 rain delay in Atlanta. If he continues pitching like he has in his past two starts, the Braves will have valuable insurance for Ian Anderson, who is still trying to right himself at the Triple-A level.

“We’re going to look back and this game is going to prepare us for the postseason,” Minter said. “It’s just going to make us that much better.”