St. Louis @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 14, 2014 ) St. Louis 4, Milwaukee 0

The St. Louis Cardinals look to continue their dominance of the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday when the teams continue their three-game series at Miller Park. The Cardinals, who snapped the Brewers’ nine-game win streak with a 4-0 victory in Monday’s series opener, have won 24 of their last 35 games against Milwaukee while outscoring the Brewers 190-119 over that stretch. Milwaukee aims to start a new winning streak behind Marco Estrada, who is winless in 12 career games (seven starts) against St. Louis.

The Cardinals are eager for a strong outing from closer Trevor Rosenthal, who has thrown 20-plus pitches while struggling in each of his last two appearances. While Rosenthal is expected to return to form, the Brewers’ second-base platoon remains a question mark with Scooter Gennett and Rickie Weeks combining for just three RBIs. “I’m fine with platooning until one of them gets so hot that he’s going to play all the time,” manager Ron Roenicke told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We’ll go this way for a while and see where we are.”

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Shelby Miller (0-2, 6.35 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Marco Estrada (1-0, 2.31)

It might be time for the Cardinals to start worrying about Miller, who has posted a 4.69 ERA over his last eight starts dating back to last season. The 23-year-old has allowed eight runs – including four homers – over his first two starts covering 11 1/3 innings this season, and his high pitch counts have kept him from working deep into games. Aramis Ramirez is 5-for-10 with a home run against Miller, who is 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA in five career games against the Brewers.

Estrada has picked up where he left off last season, when he went 7-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 21 starts. The 30-year-old followed up a solid first start against Boston with six strong innings against Philadelphia last Thursday, when he earned his first win after allowing two runs on five hits while striking out six. Yadier Molina is 12-for-21 with a home run and five RBIs against Estrada, who went 0-1 with a 6.51 ERA in five starts against St. Louis last season.

WALK-OFFS

1. 2B Mark Ellis (knee) is concluding his rehab assignment with Triple-A Memphis and could rejoin the Cardinals as soon as Wednesday.

2. Brewers relievers have allowed three earned runs over their first 35 innings and lead the majors with an 0.77 ERA.

3. The Cardinals own the majors’ best mark (210-147, .588) in March and April games since 2000.

PREDICTION: Brewers 6, Cardinals 5