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The St. Louis Cardinals play host to the Milwaukee Brewers in a crucial National League showdown on Monday night from Busch Stadium. The Brewers have put together a strong September to find themselves atop the NL Central by six games as they head into the final stretch. The Cardinals sit in the basement of the standings themselves, simply playing the role of spoiler in this one. On the season, these two divisional rivals have only squared off six times, with each team having won three times, though both rosters have evolved quite a bit since then. The Brewers will be favorites but the Cardinals can't be slept on either, especially at home.
It has been a season-long battle in the NL Central but with September quickly turning to October, the Brewers look poised to come away with the NL Central divisional title. They sit six games ahead of the Cubs behind them, while even a slight collapse would still have them in good shape when it comes to the Wild Card race. They've gone 7-3 over their last ten games, which is one of the best recent marks in baseball, while a winning road record will certainly instill some confidence as well. It's crazy to think that these two divisional rivals haven't squared off against each other since back in May but given Milwaukee's growth since the spring, they should be feeling great as they hit the road on Monday.
According to MLB.com, The Brewers will hand the ball off to Freddy Peralta to set the tone as they kickoff this mid-week series. The righty enters as one of the most experienc ed arms in the rotation, as well as bringing in a 12-8 record and 3.79 ERA. He's only allowed more than two earned runs twice in his last eight starts, while coming off of a 6.1 inning outing, that saw him allow two hits and one run. He was shelled in a May start against the Cardinals, allowing six runs in 5.1 innings of work, though only allowed one run when they squared off in April.
Milwaukee's offense has struggled at times this season, only averaging 4.6 runs per game and hitting .237 as a team, though it hasn't impacted them in the standings. Having to lean heavily on pitching is an issue that they'll want rectified by the time October rolls around, with this mid-week representing a great chance at that. Christian Yelich (back) is questionable, which is far from ideal, especially with Jesse Winker(back) already out as well. Yelich is probably their most dangerous hitter but Willy Adames (24 home runs, 77 RBI) has paced them throughout the season as well. The lineup seems dangerous enough to handle the Cardinals but they'll need to make sure Yelich can make a return sooner rather than later.
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