The St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers close out a three-game series in the National League Central Wednesday afternoon at Miller Park.
St. Louis moved within 2 1/2 games of first place in the division by pulling off an 8-7 extra-innings victory last night over Milwaukee. The Cardinals bullpen supplied six innings of shutout relief and All-Star outfielder Lance Berkman’s two-out RBI single proved to be the difference. “It is a game that we had to win, so I’ll take it,” Berkman commented afterwards. Looking ahead, all focus is squarely on the left hand of first baseman Albert Pujols, who has designated himself to day-to-day status. It would serve as a major blow to the offense, as the three-time MVP came into last night’s game hitting .344 in his career during the month of August. St. Louis is 17-18 in day games this year and 77-77 over the last two-plus seasons.
Cardinals starting pitcher Edwin Jackson will make his second start for his new team, coming off a 9-2 win over the Chicago Cubs last time out. He was traded from the White Sox to Toronto and then fell into the hands of St. Louis by trading away center fielder Colby Rasmus on July 27. The right-hander has tallied three straight victories, giving up just three runs and 21 hits over 22 innings over that span. Jackson will be making his third career start versus the Brewers, bringing in a 1-1 record and 3.00 ERA, but today will mark his first lifetime appearance at Miller Park.
Milwaukee is 40-15 at home this season and will be trying to avoid consecutive losses at home for just the second time. The Brewers are also 6-1 in a stretch of playing 18 straight games against divisional opponents, which has helped to lift their record to 27-18 in that situation. With last night’s loss, the club saw its seven-game winning streak end, while the pitching staff surrendered more than four runs for the first time since July 16. Milwaukee is 18-17 in day games this year and a dismal 64-82 over the past three campaigns.
Brewers starting pitcher Randy Wolf enters with a losing 7-8 mark and 3.44 ERA and will be aiming for consecutive wins for the first time since June 24. The left-hander came away with a 4-0 home victory over the Astros in his previous outing, tossing seven shutout frames and scattering four hits. Wolf has made just seven daytime starts, posting an even 2-2 record and 4.12 ERA. In 15 lifetime starts versus the Cardinals, he has compiled a 5-7 mark and 3.79 ERA, including a 6-0 road loss earlier this year at Busch Stadium. The 34-year-old gave up six runs on seven hits in five frames in that contest.
At the time of this writing, the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals were both listed at -105, while the total stands at 8.5 under (-115)