Milwaukee @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 2, 2010 ) Milwaukee 0, St. Louis 5
Chris Carpenter takes a second crack at win No. 10 on the season when the St. Louis Cardinals host the Milwaukee Brewers in the third of a four-game set at Busch Stadium on Saturday.
Milwaukee won the series opener, 4-1, on Thursday before St. Louis bounced back to take Friday's matchup, 5-0, behind a strong start from rookie Jaime Garcia.
Randy Wolf also gave the Brewers a solid start on Thursday, so the team with the better pitcher has won both games. Sounds logical and it looks like the Cardinals will have the edge on Saturday.
Carpenter (9-1, 2.70 ERA) has not lost in his last nine starts, but also has four no-decisions in that span. All told, Carpenter has seven no-decisions in 17 starts this season and has only been bested by the Houston Astros on May 13.
St. Louis is 13-4 in games started by Carpenter this season and has won his last three starts after losing two straight. One of the starts by Carpenter that the Cardinals lost came against the Brewers - and it was one of the big right-hander's worst outings of the season.
Milwaukee beat the Cardinals, 8-7, on April 11. Carpenter started for St. Louis and allowed a season-high seven runs and seven hits in five innings. He has allowed more than four runs just once since and has yielded two or less runs in 10 of his starts this season.
The Cardinals are 5-5 in their last 10 and had lost two straight before Friday's win. Trailing the NL Central-leading Cincinnati Reds by 1.5 games, St. Louis would like nothing more than to string some wins together - especially with the Reds having won eight of their last 10.
Milwaukee had won eight of 11 before falling on Friday and turns to starter Manny Parra (2-5, 4.12).
Parra has appeared in 24 games this season, including seven starts. One of those starts was at Busch Stadium on June 6 when the Brewers posted a 4-3 victory.
Parra did not figure in the decision that day, but he did strike out 10 Cardinals in 5 1/3 innings while allowing two runs and four hits.
While Carpenter has a collection of no-decisions this season, Parra seems to rack them up against the Cards. Parra has made 11 starts against St. Louis in his career and appeared in two other games, but is just 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA against the Cardinals all time.