The St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers will square off Wednesday night in the first of a three-game set at Busch Stadium, with aces Chris Carpenter and Yovani Gallardo getting the ball with the slate tied after the Cardinals won an NLCS blowout in Game 2 at Miller Park.
Yovani Gallardo is the homegrown ace of the Brewers' largely imported staff, setting career highs with 17 wins, 207 strikeouts, and a 3.52 ERA—and, unfortunately for the Brewers, setting another career high with 27 home runs allowed to offset his impressively low walk rate. Gallardo was excellent in two starts in the NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks, including a Game 5 in which he went seven innings and got a no-decision in the team's eventual 10-inning win.
The Cardinals trot out Chris Carpenter for the first time since he shut out the Philadelphia Phillies and outdueled Roy Halladay in Game 5. Carpenter struggled on short rest but was outstanding for the Cardinals down the stretch, going 10-2 with a 2.73 ERA. Game time is 7:05 PM CDT on TBS.