Milwaukee @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 5, 2010 ) Milwaukee 4, St. Louis 5
Things certainly don't seem to get any easier for the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers attempt to salvage the finale of their three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals tonight when they take on one of baseball's top pitchers this season.
After recording just two hits against Adam Wainwright on Friday, Milwaukee battled back from an early three-run deficit on Saturday only to succumb in 11 innings. With the extra-inning setback, the Brewers fell to 1-5 on their seven-game road trip and 1-6 in their last seven overall.
In order to break out of their funk, they will have to find a way to solve Jaime Garcia, whose 1.32 ERA is second in the major leagues to Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez (0.78).
Garcia is 2-0 in his last four outings and has won four of his last five decisions. The 23-year-old left-hander has been nearly untouchable at home this season, going 2-0 in four starts and allowing just two earned runs in 25 innings.
On Monday, Garcia surrendered three runs - two earned - in six innings of a 12-4 triumph over Cincinnati. He has not yielded more than two earned runs in any of his 10 starts this year.
Garcia faced the Brewers in Milwaukee on April 10, allowing just one run and four hits in six innings of a 7-1 victory.
Having the unenviable task of opposing Garcia is fellow southpaw Manny Parra, who will be making just his third start of the season.
A starter for most of his major league career, Parra began 2010 in the bullpen, making 15 relief appearances before getting the nod against Cincinnati on May 18.
The 27-year-old came out of the bullpen two more times before starting vs. the New York Mets on May 29, when he was reached for three runs and six hits in just three innings but did not factor in the decision of an 8-6 victory.
Parra has made 12 career appearances - 10 starts - against the Cardinals, going 2-1. In St. Louis, he is 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA in five outings.
Ryan Ludwick has a .300 lifetime average (6-for-20) against Parra with two home runs and four RBIs, while Matt Holliday has collected three hits in four career at-bats vs. the lefty.
Parra will attempt to cool down St. Louis' Colby Rasmus, who has collected eight RBIs in his last five games and is 5-for-7 with five RBIs over the first two contests of this series.
Rasmus, who delivered a two-run double in the first inning Saturday, gave St. Louis the victory with a walk-off single in the 11th.
Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols ended a lengthy home run drought at home, belting his first shot at Busch Stadium since the club's home opener against Houston on April 12. The blast, a two-run homer in the opening frame, was his first in 93 at-bats at Busch.
St. Louis, which has won seven of nine overall and nine of its last 12 at home, could be without third baseman David Freese, who left Saturday's game after six innings with an ankle injury.