MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Brewers did a good job of stifling the St. Louis Cardinals' offense Tuesday night, holding the NL Central leaders to just seven hits.

Three of those, though, came from right fielder Jason Heyward, whose two-run home run in the 10th inning broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Cardinals a 3-1 victory over the Brewers in front of announced crowd of 30,349 at Miller Park.

"I was trying to be aggressive, in the zone," said Heyward, who extended his hitting streak to six games and is batting .478 during that stretch. "I was able to lay off a couple pitches and I kind of got rewarded."

Heyward already doubled twice, walked and reached on a fielder's choice when he came up in the 10th against Brewers right-hander Tyler Thornburg, who got off to a bad start in the inning when Matt Carpenter reached on an error by first baseman Adam Lind.

Left fielder Stephen Piscotty grounded into a force at second to bring up Heyward. Thornburg (0-2) quickly fell into a 3-0 hole, and on a 3-1 count, fired a fastball that Heyward sent to right for his 12th home run of the season.

"We were behind Heyward all night," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "I think he was 2-0 on four of the five at-bats. We just fell behind to a good hitter and you can't fall behind to a hitter like that all night because he's going to make you pay."

He doubled twice off right-hander Ariel Pena, who went five-plus innings and gave up just the one run on four hits and three walks while striking out five in his second career major league start.

"Ariel Pena did an outstanding job," Counsell said. "I was really happy with the way he performed. He did a nice job, then our bullpen guys came in and did a nice job. Tonight, it was just difficult to score. There weren't' a lot of chances for both teams."

Right-hander Carlos Martinez was locked in for the Cardinals, holding Milwaukee to a run on four hits and two walks while striking out nine over eight innings.

The only blemish on his line was a solo home run by left fielder Khris Davis in the fifth, but St. Louis got the run back an inning later when Heyward picked up his second double, then scored on a base hit by shortstop Jhonny Peralta.

"Best I've ever seen him throw. I mean, that was no-hit stuff," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "From the first couple of pitches, he was just so synced up with those legs. It was easy and the ball was jumping out of his hand. He had a plus-change up, had a slider that was disappearing. It looked like a couple of those sinkers were about 97. It was just a very, very good showing of what he has and what he has the potential to do."

Milwaukee threatened in the sixth, loading the bases with one out before Lind lined into a double play at first, then again in the ninth, when right fielder Ryan Braun drew a one-out walk off left-hander Kevin Siegrist (7-1) but was left stranded.

"Tonight, it was just difficult to score," Counsell said.

"There weren't a lot of chances for both teams."

Right-hander Trevor Rosenthal worked around a two-out single by Logan Schafer in the bottom of the 10th to earn his 44th save of the year.

The victory was the second in a row for St. Louis, which maintained pace over the Pirates, who closed to within 2 1/2 games of the division leaders last week, when the Cardinals six of seven.

NOTES: St. Louis activated OF Matt Holliday from the 15-day disabled list, though he did not play Tuesday night. Holliday has appeared in just 11 games since June 8, and he landed on the DL on July 29 with a strained right quadriceps. ... Brewers C Jonathan Lucroy remains sidelined with post-concussion symptoms. Manager Craig Counsell said there has not yet been a discussion about shutting Lucroy down for the final three weeks of the regular season. ... The Brewers brought a four-game home winning streak into the game Tuesday but have gone 10-25 in their last 35 meetings with the Cardinals at Miller Park. ... St. Louis has won three straight season series against Milwaukee, and the Cardinals are 9-4 against the Brewers this season.