Cardinals at Brewers
Even in what has been an unexpected and unusual start for the St. Louis Cardinals, they generally can count on curing whatever ails them when they visit the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals eye their fifth victory in six outings Saturday, when they continue their four-game series against the host Brewers.
St. Louis dropped five of six during a road trip last week to fall to a National League-worst 3-9 - its poorest start to a season since 1988 - before it rolled off three consecutive 2-1 wins over Pittsburgh to begin this week. Following a 7-5 defeat to the Brewers in Thursday's opener, pitcher Adam Wainwright homered, drove in four runs and struck out a season-high nine in Friday's 6-3 victory - extending St. Louis' streak of going deep at Miller Park to 23 straight games while improving the club's all-time record at the stadium to 82-51. Wainwright and four relievers managed to cool off the red-hot Eric Thames (0-for-5, three strikeouts on Friday), although Ryan Braun went deep as Milwaukee homered for a major league-leading 33rd time. The Brewers haven't been getting the same production from their pitching staff, however, as they have yielded 27 runs while dropping three of four after giving up a total of 20 during a 6-1 stretch from April 11-17.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FS1
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Lance Lynn (1-1, 3.12 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Chase Anderson (2-0, 1.50)
Lynn recorded his finest performance of the season Monday against Pittsburgh, allowing only three singles and a walk while striking out five over seven scoreless innings. The 29-year-old Ole Miss product was roughed up for six runs - four earned - in five frames of a loss at Washington six days earlier and settled for a no-decision versus the Chicago Cubs in his season debut. Lynn went 3-1 with a 2.66 ERA in four starts versus the Brewers in 2015 and is 8-3 with a 2.36 mark in 18 career appearances (14 starts) against them.
After beginning the season with a no-decision at home versus Colorado, Anderson notched his second straight road win on Monday, defeating the Cubs after allowing three runs - two earned - and fanning five over as many innings. The Texas native was particularly sharp in his first two outings, permitting a total of one run on six hits and four walks with 11 strikeouts in 13 frames. Anderson has run into his fair share of bad luck in five starts versus the Cardinals, however, going 0-2 despite posting a 2.42 ERA.
WALK-OFFS
1. Braun's home run on Friday was his first at Miller Park versus the Cardinals since April 8, 2012 - 128 blasts ago.
2. St. Louis 2B/3B Jedd Gyorko is 5-for-7 with two doubles, a homer and three runs scored in this series.
3. Cardinals CF Dexter Fowler left Friday's game in the fifth inning with right heel bursitis. His status for Saturday is unknown.