Jonathan Lucroy returns to the Brewers lineup tonight. Photo UPI/Bill Greenblatt
The Milwaukee Brewers, coming off of a 7-6, 17-inning win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, open a three city, nine game road trip tonight in St. Louis against the Division leading Cardinals.
St. Louis (33-17) has won six of their last seven games, including a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. The Cardinals are 6-games up on the Chicago Cubs, 7-games over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10 1/2 games up on Cincinnati, and a whopping 16 1/2 games on the Brewers. They’re 4-2 against the Brewers this season.
The Cardinals send Jaime Garcia (1-1 3.46 ERA) to the mound tonight against the Brewers Mike Fiers (1-5, 4.53). Garcia is 6-3 lifetime in 12 career starts against the Brewers.
St. Louis is one of the best home teams in baseball with a 20-6 record. The six losses at home is the fewest in the majors so far this season.
Offensively for the Cardinals, Johnny Peralta is hitting .545 lifetime against Mike Fiers. Former Brewer Mark Reynolds, who is hitting .250 on the season, is hitting .500 against Fiers. Jon Jay is a lifetime .308 hitter against Fiers.
For the Brewers, Jean Segura is hitting .333 lifetime against Jaime Garcia. Aramis Ramirez is hitting .300 lifetime against Garcia.
The Brewers will get catcher Jonathan Lucroy back in the lineup tonight for the first time since April 20th when he suffered a broken toe. Lucroy finished fourth in the National League in MVP voting last season.
Following is a (google hangout) preview of the upcoming three-game series with Missourinet.com’s Bill Pollock.