Brewers at Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals try for their fifth straight victory - and a three-game sweep of Milwaukee - when they host the Brewers on Wednesday afternoon. St. Louis prevailed 4-3 on Tuesday as shortstop Paul DeJong continued his torrid start by belting a tiebreaking home run leading off the eighth inning as part of a 2-for-4 night, giving him five homers, a club-most 21 runs scored and a .337 batting average this season.
Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (team highs of nine home runs and 19 RBIs) is riding a 10-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .372, raising his season average to .269. Milwaukee has lost three straight and six of its last seven but is having little trouble hitting solo home runs with seven in the last two games. None of those were recorded by first baseman Jesus Aguilar, who was given Tuesday off but could be back in the lineup after starting the season 9-for-67 with zero homers and 18 strikeouts. The Brewers' Jhoulys Chacin gets the call Wednesday as he boasts a three-game winning streak against St. Louis and opposes Adam Wainwright, who was roughed up in his last outing after recording two straight quality starts.
TV: 1:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network; FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Jhoulys Chacin (2-2, 5.92 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (1-2, 4.74)
Chacin received a no-decision after allowing two runs, five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in five innings of Milwaukee's 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. The 31-year-old Venezuelan was 0-7 lifetime versus St. Louis before beating the Cardinals twice at the end of last season and on Opening Day 2019, when he yielded three runs and three hits (two home runs) with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. St. Louis' Marcell Ozuna is 6-for-14 with two doubles, two walks and four RBIs against Chacin, who has a 5.66 ERA versus the Cardinals and is 2-2, 3.55 in five turns at Busch Stadium.
Wainwright permitted four runs (three earned), eight hits and three walks in three innings of a 5-4 loss to the New York Mets on Friday. The 37-year-old Georgian allowed three runs and eight hits with 13 strikeouts against two walks over 12 innings in his previous two starts - a loss at Cincinnati and a victory over San Diego. The Brewers' Ryan Braun is batting .208 with two home runs, four doubles and 23 strikeouts in 86 at-bats versus Wainwright, who is 15-9 with a 2.36 ERA in 38 games (31 starts) versus Milwaukee.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Brewers' Yasmani Grandal on Tuesday played first base for the first time since May, telling reporters: "Obviously we want to get ‘Aggie’ back on board. He’s a key piece to this offense. ..."
2. St. Louis has scored 33 runs during its winning streak and is third in the majors with 132.
3. Milwaukee 3B Travis Shaw hit two home runs Tuesday and is 3-for-8 in his last two games, raising his season average to .198.