St. Louis @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 9, 2015 ) St. Louis 4, Milwaukee 5

The St. Louis Cardinals did not fare well against one of the teams at the bottom of the National League Central over the weekend and hope to have more success against a different sub-.500 foe when they visit the Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game series starting Tuesday. The Cardinals managed to avoid a four-game sweep at last-place Cincinnati but the division race is becoming closer than they would prefer.

St. Louis (89-54) owns the best record in the majors but is slumping of late with losses in eight of the last 11 games to allow the Pittsburgh Pirates to creep within 2 1/2 games of the NL Central lead. The Cardinals began their 10-game road trip by getting outscored 20-3 in three straight losses before picking up a 9-2 win over the Reds on Sunday. The Brewers offered St. Louis no help over the weekend by dropping the final three of a four-game series to the Pirates while surrendering a total of 23 runs. Milwaukee will turn to rookie Ariel Pena in an effort to stop that bleeding while the Cardinals counter with Carlos Martinez.

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

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Carlos Martinez (13-7, 3.12 ERA) Vs. Brewers RH Ariel Pena (1-0, 4.50)

Martinez is struggling to work deep into games of late and topped out at five innings in each of his last two starts. The 23-year-old Dominican went 0-1 in those two starts while allowing a total of seven runs and 17 hits in 10 innings. Martinez had no such trouble at Milwaukee on April 24, when he scattered four hits over seven scoreless frames and struck out eight to pick up the win.

Pena made his first major-league start at Miami on Wednesday and allowed two runs on three hits and four walks in five innings without factoring in the decision. The 26-year-old Dominican picked up a win in relief during his first major-league appearance on Sept. 5. Pena made only seven of his 43 Triple-A appearances as a starter before being recalled.

WALK-OFFS

1. Cardinals RF Jason Heyward is 6-for-13 in his last three games but is batting .238 against Milwaukee this season.

2. Brewers RF Ryan Braun is 15-for-36 over his last nine games.

3. St. Louis 1B Matt Adams (quad) is 2-for-3 with a home run in three games since coming off the DL.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 8, Brewers 3