Brewers vs. Cardinals Preview and Pick

The St. Louis Cardinals, the favorites to win the National League’s Central Division this season, play host to their up-and-coming divisional foes, the Milwaukee Brewers, Wednesday night in the second of a three-game series.

St. Louis won three in a row to open the season, then lost three straight, then beat the Brewers 6-4 Monday in the debut of the new Busch Stadium.

Milwaukee began the season winning five games in a row, but since has lost two straight.

This series took a day off Tuesday.

Milwaukee sits in a tie for first place in the NL Central at 5-2, while the Cardinals are in fifth place at 4-3.

St. Louis has pretty much dominated the series with the Brewers recently, winning 40 of last 57 games played. The Cardinals won the season series with Milwaukee in 2005 11 games to five; the under went 9-6-1 in those games.

Off-season acquisition Dave Bush heads to the mound Wednesday for the Brewers. Bush went 5-11 with a 4.49 ERA for Toronto last year; the Jays went 8-16 in games he started, and the over went 12-10 in those games.

In his first start for Milwaukee last week against Arizona, Bush allowed just one earned run in seven innings, striking out seven along the way. He has never pitched against St. Louis.

St. Louis starter Jason Marquis gave up two earned runs and eight baserunners (hits + walks) in his first start of the season last week against Philadelphia. Marquis went 13-15 with a 4.11 ERA last season, while the Cardinals went 15-17 in games he started. The over went a solid 20-10 in those starts.

Marquis made three starts vs. Milwaukee last year, allowing 8 ER and 27 BR in 19 IP.

The Brewers are hitting .265 as a team this season, scoring 3.9 runs per game. And they can’t be too proud to own a 25/50 bases on ball-to-strikeout ratio.

The Cardinals are hitting .261 as a team with nine home runs, averaging 4.9 runs per game. They own a 29/38 BB/K ratio.

Albert Pujols alone has been a one-man wrecking crew, with four homers and nine RBI already this season.

Milwaukee pitching has limited opponents to a .211 batting average so far this season, and 3.9 RPG. The Brewer bullpen has allowed eight ER and 23 BR in 20 2/3 IP.

Foes are hitting .281 vs. St. Louis hurlers this season, and averaging 4.3 RPG. Cardinal relievers have allowed 11 ER and 28 BR in 18 2/3 IP.

Projected home-plate umpire Brian Runge called eight games behind the plate last season. Those games averaged just 5.8 RPG, and the under went 6-2.

The new Busch Stadium has similar dimensions to the old Busch, but the outfield is open. The Brewers and Cards combined to hit three homers Monday.

The under is a collective 9-5 in Brewers and Cardinals games this season.

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The Ultimatecapper Pick: The Brewer’s Bush is a good looking young pitcher. There’s some decent value here with him as the dog, so we’re on the Brew Crew here. Keep in mind that when we play underdogs we’re not out to win every single game. At these odds, you can actually lose long term and make money due to dealing with a moneyline and getting good odds rather than a point spread with no juice. If your in need of a must win, pass on this one. We’re in it for the long term and see this is a good value play that will produce good earnings over the course of the season “if played 100x” which makes it a play for us.