Milwaukee @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 13, 2011 ) Milwaukee 4, St. Louis 2

THE STORY: The Milwaukee Brewers spent a lot in prospects over the winter to bring in Zack Greinke. A strong regular season seemed to validate that investment, but Greinke has had a little trouble in his first taste of the postseason. The former Cy Young Award winner will get a chance to turn that around when he takes the mound in Game 5 on Friday at Busch Stadium. Milwaukee picked up the franchise’s first postseason road victory since 1982 on Thursday to even the series at two games apiece. The St. Louis Cardinals have one more home game to regain control of the series.

TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, TBS

PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Zack Greinke (1-0, 8.18 ERA) vs. Cardinals LH Jaime Garcia (0-2, 7.36 ERA).

Greinke backed into a win in Game 1, getting bailed out by the offense after surrendering six runs in as many innings. The righthander has been touched for 16 hits and 10 runs in 11 innings during the postseason. Greinke went 5-6 with a 4.70 ERA on the road this season, including a loss at Busch Stadium on Sept. 7.

Garcia allowed six runs of his own in Game 1, lasting just four innings to absorb the loss. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder each homered off the lefthander in the contest. He has been considerably better at home, posting a 9-4 mark with a 2.55 ERA in 15 starts.

ABOUT THE BREWERS: Randy Wolf led all active pitchers with 342 starts without a postseason victory until Thursday, when he turned in Milwaukee’s first quality start of the series with seven strong innings. Wolf, who allowed a pair of solo home runs in the 4-2 triumph, got some help from a familiar source when Braun drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the fifth. The Brewers ensured that the series would return to Miller Park for a Game 6 on Sunday.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS: St. Louis has been getting tremendous work from its bullpen lately but has also been asking a lot of the relievers. After four innings in Game 4, the bullpen was forced to cover 4 2/3 on Thursday when Kyle Lohse was knocked out in the fifth. The Cardinals dropped Matt Holliday to fifth in the order and inserted Allen Craig in right field on Thursday, getting home runs from each.

FINAL PITCH: St. Louis is 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position since the first inning of Game 3.