Cardinals at Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers look to make it a little easier on themselves Wednesday night when they go after a series victory against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals in the rubber match of a three-game set. Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun belted two-out solo homers in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday as the Brewers rallied for a 5-4 victory - their fourth in five games to open the season.
Yelich, who also doubled and scored in a two-run eighth inning, is 10-for-23 with five RBIs to start his first season with Milwaukee and Braun is just 3-for-17 in the early going, but leads the team with six RBIs and has two game-winning homers. Jhoulys Chacin makes his first home start for the Brewers on Wednesday and will face fellow right-hander Carlos Martinez in a battle of two pitchers coming off disappointing season debuts. St. Louis signed closer Greg Holland late in the preseason, but he is not ready to go yet and the Cardinals blew their first save opportunity as Mike Matheny went with Dominic Leone on Tuesday. Jose Martinez and Tommy Pham each had three hits to help St. Louis build a 4-0 lead Tuesday after winning the first game of the series and Marcell Ozuna belted his first homer with the team.
TV: 7:40 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Carlos Martinez (0-1, 8.31 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Jhoulys Chacin (0-0, 10.80)
Martinez struggled in his season debut against the New York Mets on Thursday, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits over 4 1/3 innings with six walks and five strikeouts. The 26-year-old Dominican Republic native produced 42 wins in the previous three seasons and recorded a 3.64 ERA or better in each, but surrendered a career-most 27 homers last year. Yelich is 4-for-8 and Jonathan Villar is 8-for-23 with a homer versus Martinez, who was 1-3 with a 4.30 ERA against the Brewers in 2017.
Chacin had a rough Brewers debut last Friday, yielding four runs on seven hits (two homers) over 3 1/3 innings, but escaped without a decision as Milwaukee earned an 8-6 in San Diego. The 30-year-old Venezuelan went 9-3 with a 1.79 ERA in home games as opposed to 4-7 with a 6.53 mark on the road last year and limited opponents to a .212 batting average after the All-Star Game. Yadier Molina is 5-for-15 against Chacin, who gave up four earned runs over 4 2/3 innings to lose his only start versus St. Louis last year.
WALK-OFFS
1. St. Louis SS Paul DeJong has hit safely in all five games to start the season and is 8-for-18 with three homers and five RBIs overall.
2. Milwaukee 3B Travis Shaw boasts four RBIs in his last three games and hit safely in five straight games to open 2018.
3. Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong is off to a rough start at 0-for-11 with five strikeouts after going hitless in four at-bats Tuesday.