Brewers (Woodruff, 9-10, 2.52) vs Cardinals (Wainwright, 16-7, 3.05)

This is a fascinating call. The most overachieving team in the league versus the most underachieving division leader face off for the second series in 2 weeks. The Brewers have Woodruff on the mound. In his last start, he pitched 6 innings of 1 run ball against the Cardinals. In his previous two starts, he was not quite as sharp and has an ERA of 4.00 in September. He is slightly worse for the season at home. He faces Adam Wainwright, off his worst start in months, but who has been nothing less than remarkable this season. Wainwright is 8-5 with an ERA of 2.72 at home.

The Brewers are in the dumpster as far as offense over the last few weeks. They presently sit 26th in the league. They did break out slightly vs the Mets, but there must be real concerns for the Milwaukee bats at this point in the season. The Cardinals are a surprising first in the league in offense, along with their terrific starting pitching and a shut-down bullpen with an ERA of 2.86 in their last 7 games. The Brewers’ pen has been worse than usual at 4.44ERA.

Both pitchers, and especially Wainwright have pitched a ton of innings this year, and we might be seeing some slight signs of fatigue in their latest starts. The total is very low, perhaps too low. Considering the Cards hot bats, and Milwaukee’s sub par bullpen, I’m taking this game to go over the total. Enjoy the ballgame!