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.
[to top of second column] |
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
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