St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers Preview
Where: Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI
When: Wednesday, August 2, 2017, 8:10 PM ET
Line: St. Louis Cardinals (+103) at Milwaukee Brewers (-113); total: 9.0 – view all MLB lines
TV Broadcast: FS-M, FSWI
Betting on the St. Louis Cardinals (52-54)
The number three hasn’t been kind to the St. Louis Cardinals of late. They fell to division rivals the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, 3-2, with all three of the Brewers’ runs having been scored in the first inning alone.
With the team’s latest defeat, St. Louis also finds itself three games behind Milwaukee for the second spot in the NL Central standings. It was also the Cards’ ninth-consecutive loss wherein they failed to score three or more runs in a contest.
The Cardinals’ inconsistency on offense continues to be their middling 2017 campaign’s undoing. Third baseman Jedd Gyorko, the team’s leader in batting average, home runs and RBIs this season, struck out thrice on Tuesday and has failed to register a hit over his last 10 at-bats. Slugger Matt Carpenter, meanwhile, saw his six-game hit streak come to an end after going 0-for-2 in the loss with two walks.
St. Louis’ woes go beyond its run production too. Adam Wainright (back injury) will remain on the DL and miss his supposed return to the starting rotation this Wednesday. In turn, second-year righty Luke Weaver (0-1, 4.50 ERA) will get the nod in Wainright’s place, and that’s not very comforting for the Cards. In his first and only start of the season last thursday against Arizona, Weaver lasted just five innings of work after giving up a grand slam in the fourth and picked up a loss.
Perhaps the Cardinals can get back on track after their three-game set in Milwaukee wraps up on Thursday and not this very moment that they’re still duking it out with the Brewers in Miller Park, as they’ve lost three-straight games and five of their last six on the road.
Betting on the Milwaukee Brewers (56-52)
Make that four-straight wins over the Cardinals for the Milwaukee Brewers, who are still within shouting distance of the Chicago Cubs for the NL Central lead at two-and-a-half games back.
But like the Cards, the Brewers have cooled off offensively after their scorching first half of the regular season. On the other hand, one of their standouts are finally starting to come to life again, as slugger Eric Thames reached home plate in Tuesday’s win and extended his hitting streak to five games.
In Wednesday’s upcoming contest, the real X-factor for Milwaukee’s chances of winning its fifth-straight meeting against St. Louis would have to starter Brent Suter 2-1, (2.40 ERA). Although Suter’s lone losing decision came at the hands of the Cardinals on June 13, he does have a respectable 3.12 ERA in three games against his team’s division rivals this season. The lefty out of Harvard is also coming off his best start of the year last Wednesday, lasting a career-high seven innings of no-run ball with five strikeouts against the Cubs.
Writer’s Prediction
The Brewers (-113) take the second of their current three-game set against the Cardinals, 5-3.
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