MILWAUKEE – As the St. Louis Cardinals prepare to remember a lost teammate, they’d like to forget about their last three games.

The Cardinals lost 4-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, leaving them swept and dazed in their first series since the death of relief pitcher Josh Hancock.

St. Louis has lost five in a row overall, and spent much of its three-game series in Milwaukee looking lost in the field and crossed up at the plate.

“You’ve got to fight through it,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. “This club’s proven it’ll fight. That’s why I’m confident we’re going to improve.”

But first, St. Louis must take another tough step in an emotional week. The Cardinals are off Thursday but will travel to Tupelo, Miss., to attend a memorial service for Hancock, killed in a highway wreck early Sunday.

La Russa said earlier that while attending the service won’t be easy for the team, it’s the right thing to do.

“It’s hard to imagine that being a positive, but I think it’s important to do,” La Russa said. “I think it’s important for his family and our organization to do it, but it won’t be a positive day.”

With three consecutive victories over the reigning World Series champions, Milwaukee has won nine of 11 overall and has the best record in baseball at 18-9. Prince Fielder hit a two-run single off Anthony Reyes (0-5) to help the Brewers earn their first home sweep of St. Louis since taking four games in April 2002.

La Russa isn’t allowing the team to use Hancock’s death as an excuse for its poor play – mostly because the Cardinals weren’t playing very well beforehand.

Pujols said the team has weathered tough times in the past. He was a member of the club when pitcher Darryl Kile died in 2002.

“Everybody knows the organization, we pull through,” Pujols said. “I think the best thing is, you have a great group of guys here. It’s not like you’ve got guys who don’t care about what we’re going through.”