The Milwaukee Brewers (2-6) will be well rested as they head into tonight’s series opener in St. Louis against the Cardinals (5-4).
As bad as things seem in the first week and a half, the Brewers are just 3-games behind division leading St. Louis and Cincinnati. But their offense has been inconsistent, and their pitching has been worse.
If there’s a bright side to the setup for the Brewers, they’ll have their top 3-starting pitchers going in the series. Kyle Lohse (0-0, 1.50 ERA) starts the opener tonight against the Cardinals Shelby Miller (1-0, 3.38 ERA). Lohse won 16 games for the Cardinals last season before signing with the Brewers a week before the season.
Yovani Gallardo (0-0, 5.73 ERA) pitches the middle game of the series and Marco Estrada (1-0, 4.50 ERA) gets the finale on Sunday.
The Cardinals have been winning by scoring a lot of runs. They’re coming off a 10-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. So it’ll be important for the Brewers to get better all around production from their pitching staff, and get the starters to get deeper into the game.
The Brewers have been banged up early and that’s not going to change much going into the series tonight. So they’re going to need better production in spite of the injuries.
Without Aramis Ramirez (15-day DL / Knee), the Brewers have struggled to find a cleanup hitter. Alex Gonzalez, Rickie Weeks and Jonathan Lucroy has each taken their turn. That combination has managed to go 1 for 18 since Ramirez left the lineup.
Weeks started the season hitting at a .467 clip. Since he was moved into the cleanup spot, his average has dropped to .242.
Manager Ron Roenicke said his hitters are pressing, trying to do too much.
AUDIO: Ron Roenicke says his hitters are pressing :17
Because of a rain out in Chicago in Wednesday, the Brewers have had the last two days off. Eight games do not make a season, but the issues still remain and it’s going to be up the Brewers to work their way out trouble. They could use a shot in the arm and a good weekend in St. Louis could be just what the doctor ordered.
