Brewers vs. Cardinals Preview: Game 1 Of Double-Header

This NL Central battle features two teams scratching and clawing at postseason's door

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Ian D'Andrea, Flickr

Quick-Hitters

  • Due to a postponement on August 2nd, the Milwaukee Brewers will be the home team on Friday afternoon despite playing at the St. Louis Cardinals.

  • Upon further research, the slated pitching matchup favors Milwaukee.

  • St. Louis currently holds the better record, but consider taking the Milwaukee moneyline on Friday.

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High Stakes

The heat is officially on in MLB, and the National League appears to be in the thick of the flames. With the number of games left in the regular-season down to single-digits (less than five games for some clubs), teams will be leaving it all on the field for a chance to make a run at the World Series in this very unconventional season.

Perhaps there's no division in the Majors that's more scrambled than the NL Central. At season’s beginning, it seemed several teams from the NL Central were in position to have a legitimate shot at the 2020 title. However, outside of the Chicago Cubs, much of the division has eaten itself alive. Lucky for us, Friday’s matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, two teams that entered 2020 with high expectations, offers even higher stakes.

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Pitching Matchup

In the first game of Friday’s doubleheader, the Cardinals will send out veteran righty Jack Flaherty. Flaherty, in his fourth year, is having a solid 2020 campaign. Thus far on the season, Flaherty is 4-2 with a 4.84 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 35.1 innings over eight starts. His ERA looks rather meaty, and in large part is due to his lone 2020 tangle with (none other than) Milwaukee. In Flaherty’s start against the Brewers last week, he was shelled for eight hits and nine earned runs over just 3.0 innings, surrendering a couple home runs along the way. Undoubtedly, it was Flaherty’s worst start on the year. He’ll look to avenge against the Brew-crew on Friday.

To duel with Flaherty, Milwaukee will hand the ball to MLB journeyman Josh Lindblom. Very similar to Flaherty’s 2020, Lindblom has started nine games, yielding a 2-3 record with a 4.81 ERA and 50 strikeouts over 43.0 innings of work. Lindblom has faced St. Louis only once in 2020 (September 13th), turning out a stellar outing by blanking the Cardinals for 5.0 innings before eventually earning the win. Lindblom is a true pro’s pro; he’ll be ready for whatever adjustments the Cards may implement.

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Playoff Chase

With only a handful of games left to play, St. Louis owns a slight lead over Milwaukee, yielding a 72.3 percent chance to make the playoffs. Milwaukee, to the contrary, has just a 51.8 percent chance to land a postseason spot. With the Miami Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, and Cincinnati Reds closely competing with St. Louis and Milwaukee for the bottom-four National League playoff spots, Friday’s games carry their weights in gold.