The St. Louis Cardinals may not be able to catch the torrid Cincinnati Reds in the N.L. Central, but the Redbirds are right in the thick of the N.L. Wild Card race and are going for a crucial weekend sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. St. Louis enters Sunday 2.5 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Atlanta Braves, which are tied for the top two Wild Card slots.
The Cardinals will be sending Kyle Lohse to the hill on Sunday. Lohse has been having a career year in 2012, and only in his last start had a streak of 10 straight quality starts broken. Even in that last start he gave up five runs in six innings in Coors Field vs. the Colorado Rockies, hardly some terrible sin. Lohse hasn't faced the Brewers since late April, when he gave up three earned runs in six innings.
Milwaukee will counter with spot starter Marco Estrada, who has posted a 4.34 ERA but a 1.13 WHIP on the season. Estrada has also struck out 81 batters in 74 innings while only walking 15. Estrada has pitched 9.1 innings vs. the Cardinals in 2012 across three appearances (one of which was a start), giving up six earned runs.
Game date/time: Sunday, August 5, 7:05 p.m. CT
Location: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Mo.
TV: ESPN
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