Thursday, March 28, 2024
Sports Gaming Monitor

MLB Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (23-17) at St. Louis Cardinals (16-25)

MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:

TONIGHT’S GAME: Is game 1 of a 6-game, 7-day road trip to St. Louis (3g) and Tampa Bay (3g)…..the team returns to American Family Field following this trip for a 7-game homestand against Houston (3g) and San Francisco (4g).

IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: RHP Jason Alexander (right rotator cuff), LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP Matt Bush (right rotator cuff), OF Garrett Mitchell (left shoulder), INF Luis Urías (left hamstring), 1B Luke Voit (neck), LHP Justin Wilson (left elbow) and RHP Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) are on the injured list…..Alexander, Ashby, Mitchell, Urías, Wilson and Woodruff are on the 60-day IL.

IN THE STANDINGS (46 days): The Brewers have spent the following number of days alone or tied at each position in the NL Central standings: FIRST: 25, SECOND: 19, THIRD: 2, FOURTH: 0, FIFTH: 0…..the team is currently in first place, leading the second-place Pirates by 1.5 games.

SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 7-6-0 in series play.
Game 1: 7-6, Game 2: 8-5, Game 3: 7-6, Game 4: 1-0
Sweep Wins (3): vs. NYM (3g, 4/3-4/5), at SEA (3g, 4/17-4/19), vs. KC (3g, 5/12-5/14)
Sweep Losses (1): at COL (3g, 5/2-5/4)

AT HOME: The Brewers are 13-8 at home, going 4-3-0 in series play…..the team went 46-35 at home last season, going 15-8-4 in series play.

ON THE ROAD: The Brewers are 10-9 on the road, going 3-3-0 in series play…..the team went 40-41 on the road last season, going 9-12-5 in series play.

LET’S GO TO THE VIDEO TAPE: The Brewers have made six replay challenges this season, going 3-3…..their last challenge (won) came Friday vs. Kansas City as a swing by Willy Adames was overturned to catcher’s interference.

TONIGHT’S STARTER: #51 – RHP FREDDY PERALTA (7gs, 4-2, 3.32)
PERALTA AT A GLANCE: Freddy Peralta, 26, will make his eighth start of the season and second against the Cardinals…..Peralta last started last Monday vs. Los Angeles-NL and earned a 9-3 win (6ip, 3h, 1r, 1er, 2bb, 5k, 94 pitches)…..the team is 4-3 in his starts…..he has made 5 quality starts…..opponents are batting .229 (35-for-153, 4hr)…..Peralta was acquired from Seattle, along with RHP Carlos Herrera and RHP Daniel Missaki, in exchange for 1B Adam Lind on 12/9/15…..on 2/28/20, he signed a 5-year contract through the 2024 season with club options for 2025 and 2026.

LAST SEASON: Peralta went 4-4 with a 3.58 ERA in 18 games/17 starts…..he held opponents to a .190 batting average with 86 strikeouts in 78.0 innings…..the team went 8-9 in his starts…..he produced 4 quality starts…..he was on the injured list twice last season: 5/23-8/2 (right posterior shoulder strain) and 9/9-9/24 (right shoulder inflammation).

CAREER: Is 34-19 with a 3.77 ERA in 123 games/74 starts (455.2ip, 191er)…..is in his sixth Major League season, all with the Brewers (2018-23)…..is 26-17 with a 3.75 ERA as a starter (371.2ip, 155er) and 8-2 with a 3.86 ERA in relief (84ip, 36er)…..was an All-Star in 2021.

CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 22-11 with a 3.23 ERA in 67 games/39 starts (253.1ip, 91er)…..is 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA in 5 starts this season (29.2ip, 8er)…..went 3-4 with a 4.34 ERA in 11 games/10 starts last season (45.2ip, 22er)…..CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 12-8 with a 4.45 ERA in 56 games/35 starts (202.1ip, 100er)…..is 0-1 with a 5.73 ERA in 2 starts this season (11ip, 7er)…..went 1-0 with a 2.51 ERA in 7 starts last season (32.1ip, 9er).

CAREER vs. CARDINALS: Is 3-4 with a 5.94 ERA in 13 games/9 starts (47ip, 31er), including a 6-1 win this season on 4/9 at American Family Field (6ip, 4h, 1r, 1er, 3bb, 7k)….. he is 0-1 with a 6.59 ERA in 4 career games/2 starts at Busch Stadium (13.2ip, 10er).

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:

RECENT REDBIRDS: The St. Louis Cardinals return home to Busch Stadium to begin a seven-game homestand against a pair of first place teams in the division-rival Milwaukee Brewers (May 15-17) and Los Angeles Dodgers (May 18-21) … St. Louis recently went 5-1 over a six-game road trip through Chicago’s Wrigley Field (2-1) and Boston’s Fenway Park (3-0).

SWITCHING GEARS: The Cardinals have won six of seven games with back-to-back series victories for the first time since Aug. 29-Sept. 4 at Cincinnati and vs. Chicago Cubs … Since May 6, St. Louis has improved 2.5 games in the NL Central standings and now sits 7.5 games behind first place Milwaukee and 2.5 games behind fourth place Cincinnati … The Cardinals have been in last place for 19 straight days (April 25-present).

IT’S CALLED A WINNING STREAK: For only the second time this season (also May 8-10), the Cardinals have put together a season-long three game winning streak with their recent sweep of the Red Sox … The last time the ‘Birds won four straight was Aug. 31-Sept.4, 2022.

BEER BASHERS: Among Major Leaguers with 150+ career plate appearances vs. the Brewers, Nolan Arenado is the active leader in slugging (.637) and OPS (1.030), while Paul Goldschmidt ranks among the top six in nearly every offensive statistical category (chart right).

FREDDY VS. GOLDENADO: In 22 career plate appearances vs. Freddy Peralta, Nolan Arenado is hitting .368/.455/.842 (7-19) with three home runs and 7 RBI … In 21 career plate appearances, Paul Goldschmidt is 7-for-19 (.368/.429/.842) with two homers, three doubles, and six RBI … No other opposing batter has more home runs and RBI off Peralta than Arenado.

BROTHERS: Willson Contreras matches up this series against his younger bother William with the Brewers … Recent Cardinals to face their brother in the opposite dugout include Yadier Molina (José Molina in 2014 with Tampa Bay & Bengie Molina in 2010 with San Francisco) and Cardinals Asst. GM & Director of Scouting Randy Flores (Ron Flores in 2007 with Oakland) – Elias

NOLAN STOPPED COOLIN’: Nolan Arenado has hit safely and recorded an RBI in seven of his last eight games (.324/.342/.703, 4 HR, 15 RBI) since May 5, and has homered in three straight … Arenado’s last homer streak of four games or longer was May 14-18, 2021.

NORTHERN EXPOSURE: The Cardinals own the most wins against the Brewers (235-183, .562) since St. Louis and Milwaukee began regular season play in 1997, and since the Seattle Pilots joined MLB as an expansion team in 1969, only the Minnesota Twins (252-237, .515) have more wins over Pilots/Brewers than St. Louis.

PAULY D: Paul DeJong leads MLB in batting average with two strikes (.313, 10-32) this season, with 10 of his 17 total hits coming with two strikes, including last night’s monstreous 425-ft blast at Boston … DeJong’s 10 hits with two strikes already matches his hit total from a season ago (10-120, .083), when his two-strike batting average ranked 4th-lowest … Since being activated from the Injured List on April 23, Pauly D is batting .309/.367/.582 (16-55) with four homers, three doubles, and a .948 OPS, while leading St. Louis in line drive pct. (32.5%).

TOP PROSPECTS: According to recent prospect ranking updates, both the Cardinals and Brewers currently boast four prospects in the Top 100 and own two of the top prospects across all of baseball … According to MLB Pipeline, 20-year-old outfielder Jordan Walker ranks No. 1, while 19-year-old Jackson Chourio is No. 2 … According to Baseball America, Chourio is MLB’s top prospect while Walker is No. 2.

ROAD MAPS: History shows that slow starts similar to the one the Cardinals have experienced can still lead to postseason’s promised land … As recently as 2005 Astros rose from a 12-21 mark to defeat the Cardinals for the NL Championship and earn a World Series date with the White Sox … The 1974 Pirates went from 11-22 to win the NL East … The 1989 Blue Jays (12-31) & 2013 Dodgers (13-30) also went on to win Division titles, and the 1914 Boston Braves started 10-22-1 before winning 94 games and the World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics.

400-CLUB CRUSHERS: With the Cardinals recently handing Kenley Jansen blown saves in consecutive appearances on consecutive days last weekend, it marked the first time a team busted a save opportunity in consecutive days off a reliever with 400+ career saves since the Athletics got to Detroit’s Francisco Rodríguez on May 6-7, 2017 … The last time a road team did so was when the Pittsburgh Pirates tagged San Diego’s Trevor Hoffman from April 27-28, 2010.

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: RHP JACK FLAHERTY (2-4, 6.18)
TONIGHT’S GAME
NL Ranks: Losses (4, T-9th), Runs (29, T-2nd), Earned Runs (27,2nd), Ground Into Double Plays (12, 1st), GIDP/9 IP (2.75, 1st*), Walks (22, T-2nd)

  • Making his 9th start of the season and his 17th career start (18th app.) vs. Milwaukee. It’s his 107th career start (111th app.).
  • Is seeking his 1st win in May and his 1st home win since April 1 vs. TOR.
  • Has allowed 7+ hits in three straight starts after having a streak of 30-straight games with 6 or fewer hits allowed.
  • Has allowed a HR in 6-straight games, one shy of career-high 7-straight games in 2019
  • Has walked 5 or more batters in three of his eight starts.
  • Owns a career mark of 7-4, 3.83 ERA in 17 career starts in the month of May.
  • Trails only Wainwright & DeJong in years of Cardinals service on 40-player roster.
  • Has held his opposition to a .212 career batting average, ranking 25th among MLB pitchers with more than 500 career innings pitched in the Live Ball Era (post-1920).
  • Missed a total of 122 games in 2022 due to a right shoulder injury (64 games from April 7-June 14 and another 58 games from June 27-Sept.4). Missed 88 games in 2021 with an oblique injury.
  • Since becoming a full-time starting pitcher in 2018, ranks 13th among MLB pitchers with a 10.22 strikeouts/9 IP (min. 500 IP).
  • St. Louis sports a 56-50 overall record in Flaherty’s 106 career starts. In his first 51 starts from his MLB debut (9/1/2017) until the 2019 All-Star Break, St. Louis went 21-30 (.412). In his last 55 starts (July 16, 2019-present), St. Louis is 35-20 (.636).
  • In 106 career starts, is 34-10 when receiving 2+ runs of support, 27-1 when receiving 3+ runs, and 23-0 with 4+ runs of support. Has received 2 or fewer runs of support in 64 of 106 (60.4%) career starts. Has 23 starts with zero runs of support.
  • Is 20-15 in 52 career games (49 starts) at Busch Stadium. His .195 opponent batting average is the lowest in stadium history (min. 100 IP), while his 299 strikeouts (8th) ranks in the Top 10 among all pitchers in the ballpark’s history (since 2006). Trails Chris Carpenter (356) by 57 for 7th all-time in stadium history.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Took a ND, as Cardinals rallied with 2-run 9th inn. keyed by Paul DeJong HR. Walked 5+ for the 3rd time in 2023 and allowed 7 hits for 3rd-straight start after going 30-straight starts with 6 hits allowed or less.

DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
5/9 @CHI W 6-4 — 5.0 7 3 3 5 3 1 93-50

2023

  • Surrendered career-highs in runs (10), earned runs, tied his career-high in hits (9) and was removed after 2.1 innings as the Cardinals lost 11-7 at home to the Angels.
  • Allowed 7 hits in 4.2 IP on 4/28 at LAD, snapping his string of allowing six or fewer hits in 30 consecutive starts dating back to Sept. 20, 2020, longest such streak in Cardinals history. Jack hold the top three streaks in Cardinals history (22 from 2019-20 & 21 in 2018). His streak of 30 such games was one game shy of tying Shohei Ohtani and Nolan Ryan (31) for 5th place all-time in MLB history.
  • Earned his 2nd win of the season and struck out a season-high nine batters allowing just three runs on five hits over 6.0 IP on 4/23 at SEA. All the action but one single occurred in the first two innings and he retired 12 of his last 13 batters faced including
    seven by strikeout.
  • Took a 6-3 loss allowing four runs on four hits over a season-high 6.0 innings vs. ATL (4/17). Induced two double plays moving his National League leading total to seven on the season. Retired 10 consecutive batters from the 2nd-5th innings.
  • Ran his streak of consecutive games with six hits or less to 27 in a 4-0 loss at MIL (4/7). Allowed just two runs on four hits. Walked six batters in the game, first Cardinals pitcher to walk 6+ batters in consecutive games since Carlos Martínez (2018).
  • Threw 5.0 innings of no-hit ball in his first start of the season vs. TOR (4/1), became the 16th pitcher since 1901 to issue seven walks in a scoreless and hitless outing of any length (Langs); and the 5th pitcher in Cardinals history to pitch exactly 5.0 innings without allowing a hit or a run in a start.
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