"They nearly made it through.

Seven pitchers used and the lead in hand.

But the eighth, and the most reliable, gave it up.

After the often-used Milwaukee Brewers bullpen handed over a one-run lead to closer Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning, St. Louis Cardinals cleanup man Matt Holliday spanked a low slider for a two-run home run over the center-field fence to win the game, 4-3, Tuesday night at Miller Park.

It was the Brewers 72nd loss of the season, tying their mark for all of last season.

And it was just the second homer against Hoffman all season. He walked Albert Pujols, who homered in the seventh inning, ahead of Holliday to set up the game-winner.

"I threw a better (slider) right out of the chute and got a swing and a miss," Hoffman said. "That (second) one wasn't quite as sharp.

"A loss is a loss. Moral victories are for whoever wants them. The guys did a great job to get the lead to the end of the game and I didn't do my job."

The Cardinals left 11 runners on base and were 0 for 12 with men in scoring position, but it didn't matter.

"You give those two guys in the middle of their lineup, Pujols and Holliday, five at-bats, they're going to do some damage," Brewers manager Ken Macha said. "That's what happened."

The Brewers, stacked with 10 arms in the waiting thanks to call-ups in the final month, had to dig deep into their weary bullpen, using seven relievers, all of them regularly used arms, to cover eight innings after starter Manny Parra departed after one with neck spasms.

The eight pitchers used in a nine-inning game tied the franchise mark. The Brewers also used eight in each of the previous two seasons, making it three times in three years the Brewers have set or tied their record.

Parra said he felt a shooting pain in his neck and around his shoulders and upper back when he woke up in the morning, but the pain subsided enough that Parra forgot about it by the time the game started.

But on the last pitch to Holliday in the first inning, Parra's head snapped back and the pain returned. He got Ryan Ludwick to fly out after that to end the inning but admitted his focus wasn't on the hitter; it was on the pain.

Parra said he got the impression from trainers that this wouldn't be a serious setback.

"I got through the at-bat with Ludwick, but my focus wasn't even there my neck was hurting so bad," Parra said. "I came in. They did some test and I wasn't going to be able to pitch."

That's when manager Macha summoned Carlos Villanueva to eat up a few innings to give himself some breathing room to map out the rest of the game."