With the major league season about one-third of the way over, it is the surprising Milwaukee Brewers who sit ahead of the rest of the pack in the National League Central. It remains to be seen if they can remain in the playoff hunt moving forward, and Milwaukee will aim to stay in first when it takes on the St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game set this week.
The Cardinals have a lot more recent success to rely on and sits only 2.5 games behind the Brewers, with only 4.5 games only separating the Brewers and the last-place Pirates in the division. There is still plenty to be figured out in the N.L. Central, and most expect the Cubs to eventually take control.
However, Milwaukee has been the most impressive team in the earlygoing and will aim to keep it rolling.
This series will be contested from Tuesday, June 13 through Thursday, June 15, 2017 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. The afternoon game on Tuesday will be televised on MLB Network.
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Pitching Matchups
Tuesday is a doubleheader. The Brewers will send out Jimmy Nelson in the first game. He has been very good this season with a record of 4-3 with a 3.45 ERA. The Cardinals will counter with Lance Lynn, who is 4-3 with a sparkling 2.88 ERA. Lynn is only allowing opposing hitters a .191 batting average, although he has given up too many home runs lately.
In the second game of the twin bill, Milwaukee is scheduled to start Paolo Espino, who is 0-0 with a 5.63 ERA on the season. He has started twice this year but has only gone four innings in each of them without much success. The Cardinals will start Marco Gonzales, who has not been in the major leagues this season but will be counted on for a spot start.
On Wednesday, Milwaukee is expected to start youngster Zach Davies. He is 7-3 but spots a 4.74 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. The Cardinals will have the advantage as they send out Mike Leake, who has gone 5-5 with a 2.70 ERA. Leake isn’t a huge strikeout guy but has limited the walks and done well when allowing the ball to be put in play.
In the series finale, the Brewers are slated to send Junior Guerra to the hill. He is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA and hasn’t given up more than three runs in any of his five starts this season. The Cardinals will be the favorite since they will start Michael Wacha, who is 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA. Wacha is striking out nearly a batter per inning and should see his ERA go down as the year goes on.
Brewers Call Up Top Prospect
Milwaukee will feature one of its top young players, outfielder Lewis Brinson. After he played well in the minor leagues, Brinson has been called up to the major leagues for the first time. While there could be some bumps in the road, Brinson is a solid all-around player who should give a boost to the lineup.
He was batting .312 with six homers, 25 RBIs and 41 runs scored in 45 games at Triple-A and while he went hitless in his debut, Brinson did have a stolen base. The Cardinals will aim to keep him off the bases, although the presence of Yadier Molina at catcher for St. Louis will make it tough for Brinson and his teammates to steal.
Home Cooking
The Cardinals were really glad to get back to St. Louis recently after a poor road trip. They were swept by both the Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds, and the seven consecutive losses dropped them to six games under .500 when it was done with.
The Cardinals have bounced back in their ballpark, sweeping the Reds last time out to improve to 29-32 overall. St. Louis has won its past five games at home and picking up this series would bring them right next to the Brewers in the standings.
While Milwaukee has been the better team this season, the Cardinals have the pitching advantage in this series. St. Louis should at least split and would love to win three of four.
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