Milwaukee @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 28, 2019 ) St. Louis 1, Milwaukee 4

A season high-tying seven-game winning streak has catapulted the Milwaukee Brewers into a tie for the second wild-card spot in the National League, although manager Craig Counsell's club has a different target in mind this weekend. The visiting Brewers bid to trim their deficit in the NL Central on Friday in the opener of a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Milwaukee is off to a sterling start to the month and has fond memories of last September, when the club posted a 19-7 record to erase a five-game deficit before it won the division in Game 163. "It feels a lot like last September," Ryan Braun said after belting a two-run homer in Thursday's 3-2 win over Miami. "... Last year toward the end, basically we knew we had to win every single day, and we've taken that approach over the last seven or eight days, and it's worked well for us." The Brewers reside four games behind the first-place Cardinals, who have won nine of the 16 meetings thus far against Milwaukee and secured their 24th victory in 33 games overall with a 10-3 decision over Colorado on Thursday. Kolten Wong launched one of St. Louis' five homers in that contest and faces a Milwaukee club that he has shredded in the season series, going 21-for-50 with three homers, 13 RBIs and nine runs scored.

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FS Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Adrian Houser (6-5, 3.59 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (11-9, 4.16)

Houser answered a string of five straight outings of allowing one earned run by surrendering three in four innings of a no-decision versus the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. The 26-year-old rebounded from a disastrous start at St. Louis in a 13-5 loss on April 22 to record back-to-back strong showings versus the Cardinals on Aug. 21 and Aug. 27. Dexter Fowler (3-for-6), Paul Goldschmidt and Yadier Molina have all homered in small sample sizes against Houser, who owns a 4-3 mark on the road.

Wainwright has turned in back-to-back seven-inning gems, following up a four-hit performance in a 3-1 win against San Francisco on Sept. 2 with a one-run effort in a 10-1 victory at Pittsburgh. The 38-year-old wasn't as fortunate in his previous two outings versus Milwaukee, yielding five runs on eight hits in a 5-3 setback on Aug. 21 before working just 3 2/3 innings in a no-decision five days later. Hernan Perez (7-for-18, homer), Mike Moustakas (4-for-11, homer) and Eric Thames (6-for-17, two homers) have all fared well against Wainwright, who sports a 7-3 record with a 2.43 ERA in 13 starts at home this season.

WALK-OFFS

1. St. Louis LF Marcell Ozuna, who went deep on Thursday, has homered four times among his 20 hits against Milwaukee this season.

2. Brewers C Yasmani Grandal is just 8-for-53 with 15 strikeouts against the Cardinals this season.

3. Fowler is riding a four-game hitting streak and has scored at least one run in eight of his last 10 contests.

PREDICTION: Brewers 4, Cardinals 2