The streaking Milwaukee Brewers are running away with the National League Central race, and they can widen the gap even more this week.
Milwaukee sits 11 games ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals heading into their three-game series in St. Louis, which begins Tuesday night.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy is encouraging his team not to focus on the standings as they continue their quest for a second straight division title. He used a boxing analogy to describe the mindset he wants.
“We’re in the middle of the fight,” Murphy said. “You go back to your corner and look over and look at the scorecard, that doesn’t help you. Go to the corner, put your head down. You know what’s going on. You know if you’re taking on water, if you’re pressured or whatever. You know the situation, so you don’t need to look over your shoulder and wonder, ‘How many games?’
“You just need to stay the course. You need to stay in the ring. Get some water. Boom, wait for the bell. Boom, go out there and try to win a decision every round you can.”
Milwaukee rolls into St. Louis on a five-game winning streak.
“We’re having fun out there,” Brewers right-hander Colin Rea said. “We’re playing relaxed.”
The Cardinals, meanwhile, have lost six of their last seven games while mired in an offensive slump. They went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position during their 2-1 home loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted that Sunday marked the 25th time this season the Cardinals finished a game without recording a hit with runners in scoring position.
“At the end of the day, this is just going to come down to if we hit enough,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “If we drive the baseball, if we slug, if we situationally hit, if we execute with runners in scoring position, once we do create those opportunities.”
Tuesday’s game matches two starting pitchers who arrived in trades ahead of the deadline.
Frankie Montas (5-8, 4.86 ERA) has gone 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA over three starts with Milwaukee since being acquired from the Cincinnati Reds.
Montas has made three career starts against St. Louis, going 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA.
Both losses came earlier this season despite Montas posting a quality start each time. The right-hander allowed four runs on eight hits while striking out 10 and walking five across the two starts, both of which lasted six innings.
Erick Fedde (8-6, 3.40) has struggled for the Cardinals since arriving from the Chicago White Sox in a three-way trade involving the Dodgers. He is 1-2 with a 5.63 ERA since the move.
In his previous start against the Brewers on May 31, the right-hander surrendered four runs on nine hits and four walks over five innings. He struck out eight.
Fedde is 2-1 with a 5.24 ERA in five career appearances (four starts) against Milwaukee.
The Brewers could get reliever Trevor Megill back for the series. He has been on the injured list since July 29 with a back ailment, but the team was expected to activate the right-hander after he completed another one-inning appearance Sunday during his minor league rehabilitation assignment.
–Field Level Media