Milwaukee @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 10, 2016 ) Milwaukee 1, St. Louis 5

If the St. Louis Cardinals manage to hold off the New York Mets and others for one of the National League's two wild-card spots, they need no look further than their success against the Milwaukee Brewers as one of the major reasons why. The Cardinals hope to continue their recent domination over the visiting Brewers on Sunday when they wrap up their season series with the finale of a four-game set.

After suffering a 12-5 defeat in Thursday's opener, St. Louis reclaimed control of a rivalry it has owned over the last four seasons, improving to 13-5 this season and 52-23 since the start of 2013 with a 5-1 victory over Milwaukee on Saturday. Combined with the Mets' 10-inning loss to Atlanta, the Cardinals (75-66) overtook New York (75-67) by one-half game in the race for the NL's second wild-card. While St. Louis won for the fifth time in seven outings, Milwaukee has dropped two straight after claiming seven of its previous eight contests. Rookie Keon Broxton accounted for the Brewers' only run Saturday with a solo shot in the fifth inning of the loss, giving Milwaukee at least one home run in each of its last eight games.
TV: 2:15 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Zach Davies (10-7, 4.01 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Luke Weaver (1-2, 3.96)
Davies held his own for 6 2/3 innings Monday versus the Chicago Cubs before losing for the third time in his last four decisions after yielding three runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks. The 23-year-old Arizona native has recovered nicely from consecutive rough outings in mid-August, posting a 2.84 ERA over his last three trips to the mound. One of those quality starts came in a no-decision versus the Cardinals on Aug. 29, when Davies permitted three runs and matched a career high with nine strikeouts.
Despite giving up only two runs and fanning five Tuesday in Pittsburgh, Weaver was pulled after four innings after logging 83 pitches and did not factor into the decision. The Florida State product has made five career starts in the majors, and he won in his lone home turn after yielding a run and striking out seven across six frames versus Oakland on Aug. 26. Weaver absorbed the loss five days later at Milwaukee despite fanning 10 over six frames, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks.

WALK-OFFS
1. St. Louis CF Randal Grichuk doubled in three at-bats Saturday and is batting .353 during a career-high nine-game hitting streak.
2. Brewers INF Jonathan Villar needs one more steal to tie Pat Listach (54) for third on the club's single-season stolen base list.
3. The Cardinals did not homer on Saturday, but they have belted a NL-high 204 for the season - 10 more than the second-place Mets.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 4, Brewers 3