NL Central rivals that many expected to compete for the division crown will partake in their second series of the season, starting with this Monday night matchup. The Milwaukee Brewers (23-17) will try to take another series from the St. Louis Cardinals (15-25), this time on the road. Milwaukee enters this set in first place, while St. Louis walks into it in last. However, both clubs have been playing well lately, and this division race is far from over for any of the five teams. The world will see if the Cardinals can begin climbing back to the top, with Busch Stadium presenting their latest opportunity. The first pitch for this game is set for 7:45 p.m. EDT.
Milwaukee's weekend was a rousing success, as they swept the Kansas City Royals and passed the Pittsburgh Pirates in the standings to reclaim first place. Their offense had a fun weekend, putting up 18 runs during the three wins. A seven-run third inning on Sunday was the highlight, as the Brew Crew turned a 4-1 deficit into an 8-4 lead. Milwaukee finished with a 9-6 victory. They enter this series among MLB's top 10 teams in home runs, walk rate, and stolen bases. The Brewers have a collective slash line of .241/.317/.393 as they fly into St. Louis. Milwaukee is middle-of-the-pack in run-production this season, but fresh off an excellent series that could spark them going forward.
Turang just made this a 7-run inning ??#ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/LeUXSckueh
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 14, 2023
Pitching wasn't great on Sunday, but another quality start from Freddy Peralta can quickly put that in the past. Three straight quality starts from Peralta have earned him the lowest ERA among the Brewers starters ahead of this game. He also pitched 6.0 innings of one-run ball against the Cardinals in April. Milwaukee's bullpen was seventh in ERA (3.45) and first in left-on-base percentage (82.2%) before Sunday's game. If Peralta gets in trouble, Milwaukee's relievers can bail him out.