St. Louis @ Milwaukee preview
Miller Park
Last Meeting ( May 2, 2013 ) St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 5
What the St. Louis Cardinals lacked in style in their last time out, they made up for with substance. The Cardinals eye their fourth straight win Friday when they continue a four-game road set against the Milwaukee Brewers. St. Louis scored a total of 10 runs over a five-game stretch, but used seven singles during a six-run third inning in Thursday’s 6-5 victory. All 12 of the Cardinals’ hits were singles, but they helped their cause by going 5-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
After seeing its eight-game home winning streak come to an end Wednesday, Milwaukee dropped its second straight at Miller Park in the series opener despite nearly tying the game in the ninth after trailing by six runs early. The Brewers did themselves no favor by going 1-for-8 against Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook and leaving 13 runners on base overall. Ryan Braun gave Milwaukee a bit of hope as he went 2-for-5 after hitting .220 in his previous 10 games against St. Louis.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Midwest (St. Louis), Fox Sports Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Shelby Miller (3-2, 2.05 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Kyle Lohse (1-2, 2.53)
Miller endured arguably the worst start of his short major-league career in Sunday’s 9-0 setback against Pittsburgh, giving up three runs and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. The 22-year-old left-hander got the better end in a pitchers’ duel with Lohse on April 12, though, when he surrendered a single and struck out eight over seven innings in a 2-0 win – his first-ever start against the Brewers. Miller is allowing hitters to bat .189 against him this season.
Lohse has been a victim of very little run support and such was the case again in Sunday’s 2-0 setback against the Dodgers. The ex-Cardinal yielded two runs and five hits over seven frames against Los Angeles, but took the loss despite allowing fewer than three runs for the fourth time in five outings. Lohse, who is 2-3 with a 3.20 ERA in six all-time starts against St. Louis, will get his second shot in less than a month against the team he played for from 2008-12.
WALK-OFFS
1. St. Louis leads the majors with a .341 batting average with runners in scoring position.
2. Brewers CF Carlos Gomez has seven multiple-hit games and three homers during a nine-game hitting streak that has lifted his batting average from .295 to .372.
3. Cardinals starters have allowed one run in 29 innings (0.31 ERA) in four games against Milwaukee.
PREDICTION: Cardinals 3, Brewers 2