Milwaukee owns the best record in baseball and a runaway lead in the NL Central, and now it's sending its breakout rookie phenom to the mound in St. Louis with the doubleheader's first game up for grabs.
Bush’s PicksPicks madeJul 7, 11:11 AM CT
-193-209MILSTL+190
-114-121MIL -1.5STL +1.5+110
-112-102Over 7.5Under 7.5-110
Best BetBrewers -209
The Brewers are priced as heavy road favorites here, and it's hard to argue with the reasoning — the best record in baseball, a hot pitcher, and a team that's already beaten this opponent 4 of 5 times this season. Misiorowski's last line (10 K, 1 ER, 0 BB) was a loss only because Milwaukee's offense didn't show up, not because he got hit. Svanson's 6.69 ERA gives the Cardinals a real uphill climb to salvage the ledger.
Brewers
+Best record in baseball at 56-33, 9-game division lead
+Misiorowski leads MLB in ERA and strikeouts
+Won 4 of 5 meetings with Cardinals this year
−Woodruff out with shoulder inflammation
−Hamilton banged up with hamstring tightness
−Bullpen already down Fitzpatrick for the season
Cardinals
+Won 3 of last 5 before this series, including 17-1 rout
+Playing at home in front of their own crowd
−Svanson's 6.69 ERA is a major liability on the mound
−Lost 4 of 5 meetings with Milwaukee this season
−Bruihl banged up with an ankle sprain in the pen
Jacob Misiorowski (9-4, 1.47 ERA) gets the ball at 1:15 PM CT looking to bounce back from a genuinely bizarre loss to Cincinnati his last time out, where he struck out 10 over 5 innings, walked nobody, allowed just 1 earned run — and still took the L. Across from him is Matt Svanson, who's 2-2 with a 6.69 ERA, a matchup on paper that heavily favors the visitors.
Milwaukee is already navigating some rotation and bullpen attrition. Brandon Woodruff is on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, and reliever Brian Fitzpatrick is out for the year after Tommy John surgery. Now the Brewers are also without David Hamilton, who left Monday's series opener with left hamstring tightness. St. Louis has its own bullpen worry in Justin Bruihl, who sprained his ankle in that same Monday game but says he expects to be fine.
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MIL Brewers
STL Cardinals
Milwaukee took Monday's opener 4-3, its fourth win in five meetings with St. Louis this season, and the market reflects the gap between these two clubs right now — the Brewers are priced as heavy favorites to build on that series lead.
Milwaukee Brewers
St. Louis Cardinals
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The Brewers haven't just been good, they've been the best team in the sport, sitting comfortably atop the NL Central by 9 games. Misiorowski has been the engine of that run, leading all of baseball in ERA and strikeouts and turning himself into an All-Star Game conversation piece in the process. St. Louis, meanwhile, was rolling before this series started — a 3-2 stretch that included a 17-1 demolition of the Cubs — before dropping the opener to Milwaukee on Monday.
Milwaukee Brewers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
St. Louis Cardinals
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
This is the kind of spot where a slumping team can either get run off the field by a dominant arm or find a spark against a shaky one — Svanson's ERA says the Cardinals' offense has a real chance to do damage even if Misiorowski does what he usually does.
