Brewers vs Cardinals MLB | Stellar Pitching Matchup Between NL Central

The Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals are NL Central Division rivals but have played just six times this season. That means they have a lot of games left against one another and they open a series in St. Louis on Tuesday with the Brew Crew favored on the MLB odds.

How to Bet Brewers at Cardinals MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 7:45 PM ET
Where: Busch Stadium
Probable pitchers (away/home): Corbin Burnes/Adam Wainwright
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
Opening MLB Lines: Brewers -125, Cardinals +115 (total 7.5)

Why Bet on Milwaukee?

The Brewers enter having won six of seven following a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday. Milwaukee is on pace for 97 wins, which would break the regular season franchise record of 96 accomplished in 2011 (96-66) and 2018 (96-67).

Josh Hader, recently back from the COVID list, fired a perfect ninth inning on Sunday, protecting a one-run lead against the Pirates to collect his 23rd save of the season. The 27-year-old left-hander has allowed just eight runs on 19 hits with a 72/14 K/BB ratio across 41 1/3 innings this season. He’s also converted 23 of 24 save opportunities.

Willy Adames singled, stole a base and scored a pair of runs in the win. The 25-year-old shortstop has morphed into an offensive force in Milwaukee since being acquired from Tampa Bay, hitting .298 (82-for-276) with 49 runs scored, 16 home runs, 48 RBI and four steals since his arrival on May 22.

First baseman Dan Vogelbach (hamstring) rejoined the Brewers on Sunday after completing a rehab assignment at Triple-A Nashville, but he remains on the 10-day injured list. Before the Brewers placed him on the IL on June 23, Vogelbach had been platooning at first base, but the club has since acquired Rowdy Tellez and Eduardo Escobar to serve as left- and right-handed options at the position. With that in mind, Vogelbach’s role is currently in flux. The Brewers could be forced to designate him for assignment if the team doesn’t have room for him on the bench.

It’s Cy Young candidate Corbin Burnes (7-4) on the mound here. Burnes struck out 15 batters over eight scoreless innings with four hits and no walks allowed over eight innings in a 10-0 win over the Cubs last Wednesday. Burnes pitched the game of his career on Wednesday against the Cubs. He struck out the side in the second, third, and fourth innings. One strikeout away from tying the MLB record for consecutive strikeouts with 10, he got Frank Schwindel to swing and miss on a slider to join the record books. Matt Duffy would break the streak with a base hit.

Burnes got all 10 of the strikeouts on swinging-strikes and tossed 74-of-99 pitches for strikes, finishing with a whopping 51 percent CSW rate (called strikes plus whiffs). The 15 strikeouts rank second in franchise history for a single game, trailing only Ben Sheets (18 on 5/16/04 vs. Atl)

The 26-year-old right-hander has posted an excellent 2.23 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 172 strikeouts over 121 innings. The team is 12-8 in his starts and he has 13 quality starts. Opponents are batting .203 (91-for-448, 5hr) off him this year. Burnes is 0-1 with a 0.82 ERA this year vs. the Cardinals.

Why Bet on St. Louis?

The Cards won their sixth in a row Sunday, 7-2 in Kansas City. Nolan Arenado went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and three RBI. It was his 25th homer of the season and he has eight of them across 26 games since the All-Star break. Paul Goldschmidt went 2-for-5 with an RBI. The 33-year-old veteran first baseman has been on an absolute tear since the All-Star break, hitting .306 (33-for-108) with five home runs, 19 RBI and four stolen bases across 27 games. Since the beginning of August, Goldschmidt and Arenado have combined to bat .538 with runners in scoring position.

The Cardinals have swept eight series this season with four coming on the road. The 2020 Cardinals did not sweep one opponent during their abbreviated 58-game season, while the 2019 club swept nine series against their opponents. The last time the Cardinals were five games over .500 was June 3 (31-26), with the high watermark of the season at eight games over .500 achieved three different times in the season, most recently on May 29.

The Cardinals have scored four runs or more in 11 straight contests, their season high, and longest since scoring 4+ runs in 11 straight games in June 2017. This season, when Cardinals starting pitchers receive four or more runs of support, the club is 30-3.

It’s Adam Wainwright (11-6) on the mound here. Wainwright pitched his first shutout since 2016, throwing a two-hitter last Wednesday against the Pirates. Wainwright also doubled and singled at the plate, so he had more total bases than the Pirates did. He needed just 88 pitches to get the shutout, which was the 11th of his career. Among active pitchers, only Clayton Kershaw, with 15, has more (Ervin Santana also has 11). It was his 27th complete game, moving him past Justin Verlander for the active lad (Kershaw has 25).

Wainwright’s 18 career wins vs. Brewers are his most against any MLB opponent, most among active pitchers and ranks T-7th all-time (Bert Blyleven, 1st, 23) with Jack Morris and Randy Johnson. Twenty-seven of his 38 career starts vs. Milwaukee are quality starts. Finally, Wainwright’s 2.48 career ERA vs. the Brewers ranks 2nd behind Roger Clemens (2.25), and 236 strikeouts rank 5th (Blyleven, 1st, 312), eight behind Nolan Ryan (238) for 4th.