St. Louis @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 30, 2016 ) St. Louis 2, Milwaukee 1

Jedd Gyorko likely isn't interested in seeing the calendar switch months, but he looks to continue his power surge when the St. Louis Cardinals attempt to finish August by completing a three-game sweep of the host Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday. Gyorko homered in each of the first two games of the series and has recorded 10 blasts in August, two shy of the franchise record for the month shared by Whitey Kurowski (1947), Mark McGwire (1999) and Albert Pujols (2004).

Gyorko's homer binge has helped the Cardinals go deep in 19 consecutive games to tie the franchise mark set in July 2006. St. Louis, which leads the National League with 188 homers, owns a 2 1/2-game lead over Pittsburgh and the New York Mets for the second wild-card spot. Milwaukee has dropped six consecutive contests to begin a seven-game homestand and has slipped to 20 games below .500. Brewers slugger Ryan Braun hasn't driven in a run during the skid but has hit 10 homers in August.

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

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Luke Weaver (1-1, 3.60 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Matt Garza (4-6, 4.89)

Weaver is making his fourth major-league start and looking to follow his win against Oakland on Friday. The 23-year-old struck out seven and gave up one run and four hits over six innings in the victory. Weaver, a first-round pick in 2014, has served up one homer in each of his three starts and has struck out 16 batters in 15 innings.

Garza fanned nine over 5 1/3 innings in his last outing but lost to Pittsburgh as he was let down by his defense, leading to five unearned runs in the sixth inning. He is 0-2 over his last three outings after putting together three consecutive victories. Garza is 4-5 with a 4.25 ERA in 13 career starts against the Cardinals - including a loss on July 1, when he gave up seven runs - four earned - and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Cardinals have hit at least one homer in each of their last 20 games at Miller Park.

2. Milwaukee 1B Chris Carter is 0-for-7 with six strikeouts and has gone eight games without a homer.

3. St. Louis 3B Jhonny Peralta is mired in a 16-game homerless drought but is 18-for-40 with two blasts against Garza.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 7, Brewers 3