While the St. Louis Cardinals continue their preparations for next season, the Milwaukee Brewers are gearing up for postseason play for the third year in a row.
The divergent paths of these National League Central rivals will intersect this weekend for a three-game series in St. Louis beginning on Friday night.
Winners of five of their last six games, the Brewers (94-59) are trying to get their pitching set up for the postseason as they deal with several late-season developments.
While Brandon Woodruff has continued his comeback from shoulder injury, fellow starting pitcher Jose Quintana landed on the 15-day injured list with a left calf muscle strain.
And with long reliever DL Hall remaining sidelined with an oblique strain, Robert Gasser could join the bullpen after completing his recovery from Tommy John surgery.
While reliever Rick Mears came off the 15-day IL after recovering from his back injury, closer Trevor Megill remains sidelined with a flexor strain. His availability for postseason play is in question.
"We have a lot of season left and we're beat up, we're beat up badly," Brewers manager Pat Murphy told 105.7 The Fan before his club's 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday. "We've got guys going on one leg, we've got guys with all sorts of physical ailments. And we got a long way to go. There's no coasting."
The Brewers will start rookie right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (5-2, 4.35 ERA) in the series opener. He allowed four runs on seven hits -- including a homer by both Brendan Donovan and Ivan Herrera -- in five innings of a no-decision Saturday against the Cardinals in his last outing. Milwaukee won 9-8 in 10 innings.
Misiorowski is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in two career starts vs. St. Louis.
The Cardinals (74-79) have lost seven of their last nine games while fading in the NL wild-card race. They will start right-hander Sonny Gray (13-8, 4.43 ERA) in the series opener.
Gray allowed two runs on four hits in five innings in the Saturday game against the Brewers. He is 0-1 with a 6.46 ERA in three starts vs. Milwaukee this season and is 4-6 with a 3.63 ERA in 19 career starts against the team.
St. Louis will play without first baseman Willson Contreras for the rest of the season. He hoped to return after sustaining bicep tightness, but the team placed him on the 10-day injured list to protect him from further injury.
In Contreras' absence, Alec Burleson likely will get the bulk of the starts at first base. That will free up additional outfield playing time for Jordan Walker, who is trying to break out of a 4-for-34 slump.
Nolan Gorman, who is batting just .157 in September, could get some starts at first base as well. Rookie outfielder Nathan Church (hitting .173 since his promotion) and rookie catcher Jimmy Crooks (.107) also have struggled.
"You're going to have at-bats from young guys that don't look up to par at times, and that's part of being patient. It's going to take time," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "Some guys are sticking to the process and not having results. Some guys are reverting back to bad habits. ... It is super-individual in what we're seeing right now."
--Field Level Media
