Cardinals-Brewers Preview
By MIKE LIPKA,
STATS Writer
(AP) -- The St. Louis Cardinals' powerful offense helped the reigning NL Central champions win their first two games, but their bats went quiet as the team missed out on a season-opening sweep.
Run prevention was the biggest reason for their success at Miller Park last year.
The Cardinals allowed 14 runs while going 7-2 at Milwaukee in 2009, and they'll look for their fifth consecutive road win over the Brewers as the division rivals open a three-game set Friday night.
St. Louis (2-1) racked up 17 runs in back-to-back wins at Cincinnati to open 2010, but Matt Holliday's first home run was all it could muster in a 2-1 loss Thursday.
"We won the series," manager Tony La Russa said. "We had a shot at the end. It's disappointing when you don't win the third one, but we did all right here."
After going 5 for 9 with two home runs and four RBIs in the first two games, Albert Pujols was 0 for 3 on Thursday, while Colby Rasmus went 0 for 2 following a 4-for-6 start.
The Cardinals have typically been able to score runs against Brewers right-hander Dave Bush, who is 2-6 with a 6.65 ERA in eight starts versus St. Louis.
Bush (5-9, 6.38) is trying to move forward from a disappointing 2009 season that included a career-worst ERA and lengthy stint on the disabled list for arm fatigue.
In two September starts against the Cardinals, Bush went 0-2 with an 8.71 ERA.
St. Louis posted a 1.45 ERA and blanked Milwaukee twice at Miller Park last season. A scoreless inning in relief was the only part Kyle Lohse had in that success, though, and Lohse (6-10, 4.74) went 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in two home starts against Milwaukee.
Like Bush, Lohse is hoping to be healthier after an injury-marred 2009. He won a career-high 15 games with a career-best 3.78 ERA in 2008.
The right-hander will face a Milwaukee lineup that includes former Cardinals outfielder Jim Edmonds. The 39-year-old, who spent 2009 out of baseball, had two hits and two runs in a 5-4 win over visiting Colorado on Wednesday.
Edmonds played for St. Louis from 2000-07. After joining the rival Chicago Cubs in 2008, he went 3 for 26 (.115) with two homers against the Cardinals.
Milwaukee's biggest bats, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, each went 4 for 11 (.364) against the Rockies as the Brewers (2-1) bounced back from an opening day loss to take the series.
Each slugger, however, is still seeking his first home run after they combined for 78 last year. Only one of Braun's 32 homers came against the Cardinals after he hit .417 with 10 homers versus them in his first two seasons.
The Brewers got help from some unlikely sources as they erased a 3-0 first-inning deficit Wednesday. Backup catcher George Kottaras drove in the tying run and pinch-hitter Jody Gerut's RBI double put them ahead in the sixth.
"That's the way it should be," reliever Todd Coffey told the Brewers' official Web site. "We're 25 guys, and it's going to take every one of us."