Milwaukee @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 31, 2016 ) St. Louis 1, Milwaukee 3

The St. Louis Cardinals have fallen into a tie for the National League's second wild card but attempt to regain sole possession of the spot when they open a four-game series against the host Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday. The Cardinals had their three-game winning streak halted when they dropped a 4-3 decision to Pittsburgh on Wednesday and slipped into a tie with the surging New York Mets, who have won five consecutive games.

St. Louis failed to go deep in Wednesday's defeat, ending its streak of 25 straight games with a homer - two shy of the major-league record set in 2002 by Texas. The Cardinals are just 30-37 at home as they begin a stretch of seven straight games at Busch Stadium. Milwaukee has won six of its last seven contests after taking two of three from the Chicago Cubs - including a 2-1 triumph on Wednesday in which Jonathan Villar belted a pair of solo home runs. Villar went 5-for-9 with three blasts in back-to-back wins over the Cubs and has gone deep four times over his last four games.

TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Junior Guerra (7-3, 2.85 ERA) vs. Cardinals LH Jaime Garcia (10-11, 4.41)

Guerra is making his second start after a four-week absence due to an elbow injury. He allowed five hits and two walks in 3 1/3 scoreless innings versus Pittsburgh in the first outing on Friday. Guerra posted a 4.50 ERA while dropping both starts against St. Louis this season and has served up homers to Matt Adams and Randal Grichuk.

Garcia has lost three straight starts and served up seven homers over his last four outings, posting an ugly 7.36 ERA during that stretch. He hopes to turn things around versus a team against which he typically fares well as he is 11-5 with a 2.61 ERA and two shutouts in 20 career appearances (19 starts) versus the Brewers. Garcia put forth the best effort of his career against Milwaukee on April 14, when he registered a career-high 13 strikeouts while tossing a one-hitter.

WALK-OFFS

1. Cardinals 1B/OF Brandon Moss is hitless with 11 strikeouts in 26 at-bats over his last eight games.

2. Milwaukee LF Ryan Braun, who went 5-for-12 with two homers and five RBIs in the series against the Cubs, is just 10-for-56 with one homer versus Garcia.

3. St. Louis LF Matt Holliday (broken left thumb) has been cleared to resume baseball activities and is aiming to return before the end of the season.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 4, Brewers 2