MILWAUKEE — With two on and nobody out in the top of the ninth, the bottom three hitters for the St. Louis Cardinals had a prime opportunity to stop their team’s worst skid of the season.

Jordan Walker, Victor Scott II and Masyn Winn all had chances to drive in at least the tying run against Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Megill. All three struck out, stranding the tying run 90 feet from home. The Brewers beat the Cardinals 3-2, besting their division opponent in three of four games to take the series. The Cardinals, who held the best record in baseball in May at 19-8, have lost seven of their last eight games and have just four wins in June.

St. Louis (37-35) knew coming into the month that June would present several challenges. The lack of scheduled off days, the strength of the opposing schedule and various minor injuries to key players have contributed to their slide. But their series loss in Milwaukee capped what has been their worst performing stretch of the season thus far. With trade deadline decisions on the line, they know they need to turn it around — and urgently.

“There’s no excuse,” Nolan Arenado said after Sunday’s loss. “Last month was a great month. This month is a tough month so far. Obviously, no days off makes it even tougher, but there are no excuses — everyone has to go through that. We’re keeping an even-keel mindset, but there’s no doubt that when we play division rivals, we have to win those series.”

The first two weeks of June highlighted several concerns about what could be perceived as a flawed roster construction. Pedro Pagés has emerged as the far superior defensive catcher, but the Cardinals can’t justify leaving Iván Herrera and his .928 OPS on the bench, so they’ve turned to using him as their designated hitter. That role was originally intended for Nolan Gorman, who saw his playing time cut as Brendan Donovan solidified himself as the starting second baseman. But as several players (such as Lars Nootbaar and Scott) find themselves mired in slumps, manager Oli Marmol has found it difficult to justify sitting Gorman, especially when he’s hitting .344 with three homers and a 1.120 OPS in June.

Marmol can start Gorman at second base and move Donovan to a corner outfield spot, but that comes with the sacrifice of defense, something that anchored the Cardinals through the first two months of the season. It doesn’t help that two of their better defensive outfielders — Nootbaar and Scott — have seen their offensive production virtually fall off a cliff. Nootbaar is 5-for-44 this month with an alarming 19 strikeouts. After a four-strikeout game in Friday’s 3-2 loss, the Cardinals decided to give Nootbaar a mental reset and pledged to use him only as a late-inning defensive replacement or a pinch runner until Tuesday, when St. Louis takes on the Chicago White Sox for the first of three games.

Scott hasn’t fared much better. He’s just 5-for-34 with 13 strikeouts. But in a season in which Marmol has been tasked with prioritizing player development, sending Scott down is not an option. It also isn’t like St. Louis has any better alternatives.

It’s fair to question the team’s bench construction. It is carrying three catchers, though Yohel Pozo is the best right-handed bench bat over Jose Barrero and Luken Baker. Barrero’s primary role as the team’s 26th man is essentially to provide coverage for Masyn Winn. The Cardinals also played the majority of the week on short depth, with Donovan (sprained toe) unavailable for four games.

That has not left Marmol with many options to switch up playing time.

“That’s the challenge,” Marmol said. “You have guys that aren’t in good spots who you’re trying to stay away from and get some time off to and then other guys that are in a similar spot, where they’re trying to finish out, but they have to plow through it, especially in a spot like this.”

The Cardinals received a boost when Walker (left wrist inflammation) returned from the injured list Saturday, and they expect to have Nootbaar back in the starting lineup Tuesday (though they’ll debate whether he stays in the leadoff spot). But perhaps their biggest aid will be their off day Monday. St. Louis played 14 consecutive games and will play 16 straight beginning Tuesday. Already, the team is contemplating when it will return to a temporary six-man rotation, with Michael McGreevy again the leading candidate to take that spot when he’s eligible to be recalled on June 24.

“We knew this would be tough,” Marmol said. “When you look at May, we were able to run out our guys almost every day, with every Thursday being (a scheduled off day). We’ve had to mix and match a little more and give guys opportunities to see what they can do with it. But we knew it was going to be a tough stretch. The guys are playing hard. Tomorrow’s off day is a timely one; we’ll get to regroup and then get back at it.”