Brewers strike out 19 times vs. Cardinals, set franchise record

It's been a rough 2016 for the Milwaukee Brewers, and their season may have hit its low point Monday night.

Milwaukee hitters set a new franchise record for futility in a nine-inning game by striking out 19 times against the St. Louis Cardinals Monday night. That eclipses the previous franchise mark of 17 strikeouts in a nine-inning game, which the team had reached on four separate occasions.

Every member of the Brewers' starting lineup, save for Kirk Nieuwenheis, was sent down on strikes at least once, while Jonathan Villar, Hernan Perez, and Chris Carter all recorded three-strikeout games. Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez was the main beneficiary from the hapless Brewers bats, as he racked up a career-high 13 strikeouts over six innings pitched.

The Brewers' cumulative strikeout total rose to a league-leading 1,253 on the season thanks to Monday's brutal showing, putting them on pace to break the major-league record of 1,535 punch-outs set by the 2013 Astros. Carter's 167 strikeouts are tops among National League players, and Villar is right behind him with 144.

If all of that wasn't bad enough, the Brewers went on to drop Monday's contest in the most embarrassing fashion when Villar allowed the winning run to score on a ninth-inning throwing error that handed the Cardinals a 6-5 victory. With the loss, the Brewers are now tied with Cincinnati for last place in the National League Central.

"We didn't do quite enough right," manager Craig Counsell told reporters after his team dropped its fifth straight contest to fall 19 games below .500. "You've got to do a lot of things right versus these teams."