Cardinals at Brewers
The St. Louis Cardinals are two weeks removed from their last set of back-to-back wins but get a chance to head home with a solid statement in the National League Central race when they visit the Milwaukee Brewers for the finale of a four-game series on Sunday. The Cardinals dropped the first two games in the series before squeezing out a 3-2 victory on Saturday to give themselves a shot at the split.
St. Louis dropped eight of its last 11 overall and is still struggling to pile up runs but managed to earn the victory on just four hits in Saturday's triumph. The Cardinals did not score more than three runs in any of the last four games but catcher Yadier Molina is immune from the team's struggles and belted a pair of home runs on Saturday for his second multi-homer game in the last four contests. The Brewers remain at the top of the standings in NL Central and are thriving on the mound with three or fewer runs allowed in four straight games and eight the last 10. Milwaukee will try to coax another quality start out of veteran Jhoulys Chacin when he goes up against Cardinals righty Luke Weaver on Sunday.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Luke Weaver (3-6, 4.69 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Jhoulys Chacin (6-2, 3.18)
Weaver failed to complete six innings in any of his last five starts and is winless in his last seven, compiling a 0-4 record in that span. The 24-year-old was reached for four runs on six hits and four walks over five frames without factoring in the decision at Philadelphia on Tuesday. Weaver started at Milwaukee on May 28 and absorbed a loss while surrendering four runs - two earned - across four innings.
Chacin is coming off a tough-luck loss at Pittsburgh on Monday, when he allowed one run and six hits over 6 1/3 innings but could not get any run support in a game the Brewers went on to lose 1-0. The Venezuela native yielded one or no runs in three of his last four turns and five of seven. Chacin made back-to-back starts against St. Louis in April and went 0-1 while surrendering a total of nine runs - six earned - over 10 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Brewers sent RF Domingo Santana to Triple-A Colorado Springs and recalled INF Brad Miller on Saturday.
2. St. Louis CF Tommy Pham is 0-for-14 with eight strikeouts in the last four games.
3. Milwaukee OF Lorenzo Cain left Saturday's game due to groin tightness and is day-to-day.