St. Louis @ Milwaukee preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 9, 2011 ) St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 9

THE STORY: Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder combined for six RBIs and the Milwaukee Brewers kept the Miller Park magic going en route to a victory in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday. At some point, the Brewers are going to have to pitch a little better to keep winning. The visiting St. Louis Cardinals will be looking to end that spell and even the series at a game apiece when they face struggling Shaun Marcum on Monday night.

TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, TBS

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Edwin Jackson (12-9, 3.79 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Shaun Marcum (13-7, 3.54 ERA).

Jackson earned a win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the LDS, allowing two runs on five hits in six innings. The righthander posted a quality start in seven of his final eight starts in the regular season, including a seven-inning, one-run win over Milwaukee on Aug. 30. In three starts against the Brewers this season, Jackson went 1-1 with a 4.95 ERA.

Marcum was lit up in Game 3 of the LDS, allowing seven runs in 4 2/3 innings to suffer the loss at Arizona. Including the regular season, Marcum has allowed at least five earned runs in four of his last five starts. He lost to Jackson and St. Louis on Aug. 30 despite not surrendering an earned run in seven frames. Marcum went 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA against the Cardinals in 2011.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS: St. Louis had its chances in Game 1, leading 5-2 in the fifth inning, but in the end could not figure out a way to stop the powerful middle of Milwaukee’s lineup. The Cardinals are no strangers to having their backs against the wall after overcoming a 10 1/2-game deficit just to reach the postseason, and have shown that they will not fold. They will need more production from the bottom of the lineup, as eight of their nine hits in Game 1 came from the top five hitters.

ABOUT THE BREWERS: Braun hit a 463-foot home run in the first inning and added a two-run ground-rule double in the fifth inning to pull Milwaukee within 5-4. Fielder followed and gave the Brewers the lead, blasting a line drive over the right-center field wall. Milwaukee has yet to lose in the postseason at Miller Park and Fielder and Braun have combined for 12 RBIs in the four home games.

FINAL PITCH: The winner of Game 1 has gone on to win 16 of the last 19 editions of the NLCS.