Tonight, at 8:10 p.m. ET, the National League Central leading St. Louis Cardinals (89-64) visit their NL Central rival Milwaukee Brewers (68-84) at Miller Park in the first contest of a three-game set. The game can be live streamed here. Cardinals fans can hear all of the action by tuning into KMOX 1120 while Brewers fans can access it at WTMJ 620.
The Cardinals hold a very narrow one-game lead in the NL Central over the Pittsburgh Pirates (88-65) with the Cincinnati Reds (87-66) just two games behind St. Louis, so a visit to the fourth place and struggling Brewers could prove to be perfect timing for the Cards, but the Brewers are looking to play spoiler for their division foes.
The NL Central could conceivably be sending three teams to the postseason because as of right now the Cardinals would go in as the division champion while the Pirates and Reds would duke it out in the one-game Wild Card playoff for the chance to advance had the season ended today.
The Cardinals will look to rookie Shelby Miller (14-9, 3.01 ERA) to take the hill for them while the Brewers counter with a rookie of their own as Johnny Hellweg(1-4, 8.31) mans the mound for them.
Miller earned his 14th victory of the season Sunday against Seattle and became the first Cardinals rookie to establish that feat since 1965, something that manager Mike Matheny doesn't take lightly.
"It's impressive," Matheny said per MLB.com. "We had a couple [wins] that we let get away from us, too, that he had. He's getting better."
Hellweg, 24, was named Pitcher of the Year in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, but has had a tough time transitioning to the majors in his first six games.
Hellweg has given up three or more earned runs in his three starts at Miller Park this season and the offensively stacked Cardinals may not be an idea opponent for him to face while searching for his first win at Miller Park. Through 21.2 innings, his ERA is 8.31.
Brewers' manager Ron Roenicke said it doesn't matter to Hellweg who he faces.
"You know something, he just wants to come out and pitch," Roenicke said, according to MLB.com. "It doesn't matter who it's against, where we are. He wants to show us what he can do, and he wants to get out of the chute better in the first and second inning. So I think that's what his focus is going to be, and I don't think it matters where we are."
Both teams come into the game with some injuries as Allen Craig has been sidelined for the Cardinals and first baseman Matt Adams left Wednesday's game with elbow tightness while Jean Sugura of the Brewers suffered a strained hamstring Wednesday and may not return in the final 10 games. Prior to his injury, Segura was tied for the league lead with 10 triples and led the NL in stolen bases with 44.
Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter, who was victimized by the Rockies' Todd Helton via the hidden ball trick in St. Louis' last series, leads the majors in runs scored (119) and hits (190) and is tied for the lead in doubles (51).
The Cardinals will look to keep a tight grip on the NL Central division lead while their division rival Brewers will look to play the role of spoiler when these two kick off their weekend series tonight.
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