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The Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals are clearly the two best teams in the NL Central this season and figure to go back-and-forth atop the division all year. They open a series in St. Louis on Thursday with the Cards as short favorites on the MLB odds.

How to Bet Brewers at Cardinals MLB Odds & TV Info

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

Why Bet on Milwaukee?

The Brewers are on a rest disadvantage for this game because they had to play Wednesday afternoon in San Diego and then fly to St. Louis. Milwaukee is without two regulars in its lineup in shortstop Willy Adames and outfielder Hunter Renfroe as well as All-Star closer Josh Hader – although it’s possible Hader returns Thursday.

Adames is on the injured list with an ankle sprain and is improving but won’t return for this series. He is hitting .208 with nine homers and 24 RBIs this season. Renfroe landed on the injured list early this week with a right hamstring strain. Milwaukee acquired Renfroe from the Red Sox over the winter, attaching prospects David Hamilton and Alex Binelas to the contract of Jackie Bradley Jr. in order to bring in Renfroe. The power-hitting outfielder had made a favorable impression on his new club, hitting .266/.303/.503 with nine home runs through 155 plate appearances.

“We’re going to miss Hunter,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s been a regular for us, he’s been a good presence for us, he’s been a really good offensive player for us. We’re going to miss that, for sure. Again, it challenges your depth. He’s played incredible defense this year, I think. His arm had to be one of the most valuable arms in all baseball in the outfield.”

Hader missed the Padres series to be with his wife, who is expecting their first child but was dealing with some potential complications. Hader, a three-time All-Star, is off to an historic start. In 15 appearances across 13.2 innings, Hader has 15 saves. He has 21 strikeouts, and has given up just two hits and five walks — with no runs.

“Whenever we talk about Josh, it’s like how is he gonna get better — and he finds a way to get better,” Counsell said. “And that’s just a credit to who he is as a baseball player, and how he’s curious to get better.”

Devin Williams has been closing in his absence. Williams has recorded multiple strikeouts in each of his last 6 outings. His 33 strikeouts in 17.0 innings pitched rank third in the majors by a reliever, while he leads all relievers in K/9 at 17.47.

It’s lefty Eric Lauer (4-1) on the bump Thursday. Lauer allowed five hits and struck out five over seven scoreless innings last Friday in a win over the Nationals. Attacking the zone with mainly his four-seam fastball, slider, and curveball, Lauer fired seven shutout innings for just the second time in his career (81 career starts). He lowered his ERA to 2.16. The team is 6-1 in his starts and he has 5 quality starts. Opponents are batting .204 off him.

Lauer Is 1-1 with a 7.90 ERA in 4 games/3 starts (13.2ip, 12er) against the Cardinals. He did not face St. Louis last season.

Why Bet on St. Louis?

Small advantage for the Cardinals in that they were off on Wednesday. They had a four-game winning streak snapped Tuesday in a 5-1 home loss to Toronto. The Jays’ Kevin Gausman threw six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. He allowed four hits and beat the Cardinals for the first time in eight appearances.

Paul Goldschmidt walked in the first inning and has reached base safely in 30 consecutive games, the longest streak in the majors this season. It’s the longest on-base streak by a Cardinal since Matt Carpenter reached in 35 games from July 8-Aug. 17, 2018. Goldschmidt singled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 16 games to match his longest since joining St. Louis (Also: 6/30-7/21, 2021). Goldy recorded his NL-leading 17th multi-hit game of the season – he finished with two singles in three at-bats.

Since the calendar turned to May, the veteran Cardinals first baseman has batted .405 with a 1.235 OPS, while putting up five home runs, 12 doubles, 19 RBIs, and 13 runs in the span of 19 games. A total of 13 of Goldy’s last 21 hits have gone for extra bases (5 HR, 8 2B). Goldschmidt is 5th Cardinal with 12 or more doubles in the month of May, joining Albert Pujols (12 in 2003), Ray Lankford (13 in 1993), Gino Cimoli (16 in 1959) and Frankie Frisch (17 in 1930).

Brendan Donovan registered his 9th RBI of the month to tie San Francisco’s Luis Gonzalez for the most among NL rookies in May. Ivan Herrera made his MLB debut as a defensive replacement at catcher in the 9th inning, becoming the 8th Cardinals player to make his debut this season, tying Oakland for the most in MLB. The eight players to make their MLB debut before May 25 is the most since 1955 when the club had eight players debut by May 1, including Cardinals Hall of Famer Ken Boyer and 1955 National League Rookie of the Year Bill Virdon.

It’s veteran right-hander Adam Wainwright (5-3) on the mound Thursday. Wainwright limited the Pirates to one run in seven innings last Friday in the Cardinals’ 5-3 victory. It was Wainwright’s 23rd career win against the Pirates, his most versus any team. He got just four missed swings on 98 pitches and had a shutout going until Michael Chavis delivered a solo shot in the seventh.

Wainwright is facing the Brewers for the 2nd time this season and 51st time in his career (44^th start). His 51 appearances are 2nd most against one team (Cubs, 53). Wainwright’s His 291.1 career IP vs. the Brewers are most against any team and his 20 career wins vs. the Brewers are his 2nd-most against any MLB opponent, trailing only Pittsburgh (23). He ranks 6th all-time in wins against Milwaukee (Bert Blyleven, 1st, 23). Catfish Hunter, Wilbur Wood & Dave Stieb are T3rd with 21.