First pitch: Monday, 8:10 p.m. ET
Line: St. Louis -155, Milwaukee +145, Total: 7.5

The National League Central leading St. Louis Cardinals will host the last place Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium on Monday night.

It is looking like a lost season for the Brewers as they enter this contest with losses in nine of their last 11 games and now sit 16.5-games behind the Cardinals in the division. They were able to avoid a second consecutive sweep at home on Sunday, though, defeating the Diamondbacks 7-6 in 17 innings as they allowed Arizona to put up 20 runs in the three-game set. Each team had 16 hits in the extended contest and it was a 17th inning solo homer from C Martin Maldonado (.182) that ended a seven-game losing streak. SS Jean Segura (.282) had four hits and two RBI in the victory and is eight for his last 20 (.400) with four extra-base hits. As Milwaukee struggles, St. Louis just keeps winning and has been victorious in six of its last seven outings. They had a nice weekend series against the Dodgers in which they took 2-of-3 games and outscored them 6-1 in the two wins. They won the rubber-match 3-1 on Sunday behind a huge effort (7 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 8 K) from starter Carlos Martinez and had at least one hit from the first seven batters in the order. One of the best hitters in the game, 3B Matt Carpenter (.318), has been seeing the ball great in the last 10 games, going 12-for-35 (.343) with nine walks and five runs scored in that time. Taking the mound for the visiting Brewers will be RHP Mike Fiers (1-5, 4.53 ERA) as he goes against injury-prone LHP Jaime Garcia (1-1, 3.46 ERA) for the host Cardinals. It hasn’t been a great season for Milwaukee anywhere and they are 8-14 when on the road in 2015 as they face one of the best home teams in baseball when they take on this St. Louis group which is a stellar 20-6 at Busch Stadium. There has been plenty of meetings between these division rivals in recent years and since the start of 2013, the Cardinals have absolutely owned this opponent to the tune of a 30-14 record while being 13-8 at home in that time. They’ve already played each other six times this year and St. Louis has won each series 2-1, giving up a mere 16 runs in the process (2.7 runs per game). Trends show that the Brewers are a putrid 2-14 (.125) after having lost six or seven of its past eight games this year as the Cardinals are just 2-6 with Garcia pitching when the total is 7.5 or less in the past three seasons. Milwaukee continues to miss the production from both C Jonathan Lucroy (Toe) and OF Khris Davis (Knee) as they hope to see the return of 1B Adam Lind (Back) who was not in the lineup on Sunday but was able to pinch hit. St. Louis is dealing with the news of 1B Matt Adams (Quad) possibly missing the rest of the year and have OF Matt Holliday (Flu) as questionable.

Fiers has had a shaky season as he’s been able to get in at least six innings of work for his team just twice in his 10 starts as his club is 3-7 when he’s on the mound. The problem certainly hasn’t been control as he is striking out 11 batters per nine innings with a respectable 3.0 BB/9, but has dealt with a wealth of balls leaving the park (1.22 HR/9). The fly-ball pitcher has been on the losing end of batters hitting a bloated .386 BABIP and is expected to see his performance improve with a FIP (fielder independent pitching) mark of 3.59. He’s had a ton of success against this tough Cardinals lineup in the past, going against them eight times (6 starts) and being 1-2 with a 1.69 ERA (1.34 WHIP). Despite giving up a mere three earned runs in his 9.2 frames against them this year, Fiers has allowed 16 hits and is 0-1. SS Jhonny Peralta is running hot this year and could continue his solid play as he is 6-for-11 with a homer and three RBI against the 29-year-old, while 3B Matt Carpenter, OF Matt Holliday and C Yadier Molina are a combined 6-for-43 (.140) in the matchup. The Milwaukee ‘pen has done well this year, going 8-6 with a 3.76 ERA (1.28 WHIP) and are 8-for-12 (67%) in save chances. Francisco Rodriguez (1.50 ERA, 8 saves) has been perfect in his save opportunities and has given up a meager five hits with an 11:3 K/BB ratio in his last 10 frames.

Garcia has struggled mightily with his health throughout his career and has not had more than 20 starts in a season since 2011. In the previous two years, he tallied 16 total starts, but has bounced back nicely in 2015 so far with 13 innings pitched in his first two outings. His control was lacking in his debut as he walked five batters, but he adjusted his approach against the Diamondbacks most recently with zero free passes as he went six innings with four runs (3 ER) allowed on eight hits with five strikeouts in a winning effort. In 14 career starts against the Brewers, Garcia is 6-4 (8-6 team record) with a 3.39 ERA (1.29 WHIP) and has earned the win in his last two meetings with them; both coming in 2013. With two homers and nine RBI in his 21 at-bats (.286) against Garcia, 3B Aramis Ramirez has shown solid power in the matchup. On the other side of things, OF Gerardo Parra, C Martin Maldonado and 1B Adam Lind are hitless with four strikeouts in their combined 14 at-bats. The relievers for St. Louis are amongst the elite in the game and have gone 12-5 with a 2.21 ERA (1.23 WHIP) with a 20-for-24 mark (83%) in saves. Trevor Rosenthal (0.74 ERA, 15 saves) is to thank for much of the success as he anchors the group with 26 strikeouts and 15 hits allowed in his 24.1 IP as he hasn’t allowed a run in his last 11 appearances (11.2 IP).