Brewers at Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are winners of nine of 12 but will be trying to bounce back from one of those rare losses when they host the Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of a four-game series on Monday. Three of the last nine wins came at Milwaukee, and the Brewers hit the road for a visit to St. Louis after finishing up a disappointing 5-5 homestand.
St. Louis squandered a 4-0 lead in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, denying it a sweep of the three-game series. "We make a big deal when we come back from a 4-0 deficit, and I think the same thing [has to be] said on the opposite side when you lose a 4-0 lead," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny told reporters. "Those hurt. This is one of those games that we're going to look at and realize we need to put away." Milwaukee was carried in the first month by the bat of Eric Thames, who set a club record with 11 home runs in April but went without a blast in the last four games after leaving a game on Wednesday with a minor hamstring injury. The Brewers, who lead the NL Central in runs allowed (128), could stand to support Thames and the offense more from the mound, and righty Zach Davies will try to do just that when he goes up against St. Louis right-hander Michael Wacha on Monday.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Zach Davies (2-2, 6.57 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (2-1, 2.55)
Davies has yet to complete six innings this season but is coming off his best outing after scattering six hits and striking out six over five scoreless innings against Cincinnati on Tuesday. The 24-year-old earned a win over the Cardinals on April 20 despite yielding four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 as the Brewers grabbed a 7-5 victory. Davies, who surrendered a home run to Matt Carpenter in that outing, is 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA in four career starts against St. Louis.
Wacha posted a quality start in each of his first four outings but did not factor in the decision against Toronto on Tuesday despite allowing two runs and five hits in six innings. The Texas A&M product worked a season-high 6 2/3 innings and surrendered one run in a win over Pittsburgh on April 19. Wacha is 4-0 with a 4.09 ERA in seven career games - six starts - against the Brewers.
WALK-OFFS
1. Brewers LF Ryan Braun (arm) left Sunday's game and could miss the next few contests.
2. St. Louis SS Aledmys Diaz is 2-for-20 over his last four games.
3. Milwaukee RF Domingo Santana hit three home runs and drove in seven runs in the last three games.