Milwaukee @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 1, 2010 ) Milwaukee 4, St. Louis 1
The Milwaukee Brewers are on one of their best stretches of the year and look to keep it going Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Milwaukee has won eight of its last 11 games and started this important four-game set against National League Central Division rival St. Louis with a 4-1 triumph on Thursday.
Randy Wolf pitched into the seventh and the Brewers hit three homers in the win over the Cardinals. It was Wolf's first career win in five starts at Busch Stadium.
Prince Fielder hit one of Milwaukee's home runs in the series opener and the Brewers are hoping it means he is ready to continue his June power surge. Fielder has only 36 RBIs this season but does have 18 homers.
Fielder hit 10 of them in June to lead the majors and if he can stay hot, Milwaukee could have a chance to reel in St. Louis and Cincinnati, the two teams ahead of it in the NL Central.
The Brewers turn to Chris Narveson to keep their winning ways going on Friday.
Narveson (7-4, 5.17 ERA) has won three of his last four starts and is coming off one of the more impressive performances of his career. He went a career-best eight innings of scoreless baseball and picked up the win in a 3-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Narveson will be making his second start at Busch Stadium in about a month. He allowed four runs and five hits in six innings of a 5-4 loss on June 5. Narveson did not get the decision that day and is 3-1 since, allowing three runs or less in three of those four starts.
While the Brewers and Narveson are rolling, St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia is coming off his worst outing of the season.
Garcia (7-4, 2.27) allowed five runs and four hits in two innings of a 10-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. Garcia has lost two of his last three starts, which have all come against American League teams.
Ranking third in the National League in ERA, Garcia is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts this season against the Brewers. He won at Milwaukee in his first start of the season on April 10 and did not figure in the decision in a 4-3 loss on June 6 in which he allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings.