Cardinals 4 - 0 Brewers
Final
  for this game

Fast-starting Brewers eye 10th straight win vs. Cards

Apr 14, 2014 - 3:02 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Milwaukee Brewers will try to post their longest winning streak since 2003 on Monday night as they kick off a three-game set with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Brewers have opened the season 10-2, their best start since they began the 1987 campaign with 13 consecutive wins. They have won nine games in a row for the first time since April 14-23 of last season and tonight will try to post their first 10-game winning streak since Aug. 19-28, 2003.

Following a perfect six-game road trip, Milwaukee swept the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates in three games over the weekend, capping the set with Sunday's 4-1 victory.

Kyle Lohse threw a gem, scattering a run on four hits with nine strikeouts while coming within one out of a complete game. He was lifted after throwing 100 pitches, the last hit into left for a single by Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen, and Will Smith struck out the lone batter he faced to pick up the first save of his career.

Carlos Gomez and Aramis Ramirez each notched an RBI for the Brewers, who tacked on a pair of unearned runs in the sixth inning on a throwing error by Pirates catcher Tony Sanchez.

While pitching has been key to Milwaukee's fast start, Matt Garza will try to put a rough outing behind him when he toes the rubber tonight.

Garza was excellent in his Milwaukee debut on April 2 even though he suffered a tough-luck 1-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves. He then faced the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday and did not factor into a 9-4 win, yielding four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits and two walks over six innings. He also committed a run-scoring balk in the outing.

The 30-year-old righty is 3-1 lifetime versus the Cardinals with a 3.96 earned run average.

Run support has not been a problem this season for Cardinals starter Lance Lynn, but he will try to perform a bit better on the mound tonight.

Lynn has won both of his starts this season -- both coming against Cincinnati -- despite yielding a combined eight runs in 11 innings of work. Six of those eight runs allowed have come in the first inning of a start.

The right-hander picked up a 7-5 victory last Tuesday despite getting charged with five runs on eight hits over six innings.

The support wasn't anything new for Lynn, who averaged over five runs of support per start a season ago.

"It's hard to explain with Lance. I think some guys just have a knack of being in the right place when we've got a lot of offensive support," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Lynn.

The 26-year-old went 1-1 with a 3.47 ERA in four starts against the Brewers last season.

The Cardinals are coming off a series victory over the Chicago Cubs, besting the division rival 6-4 on Sunday. Matt Carpenter drove in three runs, while Kolten Wong, Jhonny Peralta and Peter Bourjos all knocked in a run.

The Cardinals took the final two games of the set after dropping the opener in 11 innings and have won four of their last six overall.

"We had the opportunity to win this series today and we were able to take care of business," said Carpenter. "Now we're on the road for a while so we'll try to keep it going."

Michael Wacha gave up three runs on five hits with a walk and eight strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings to win his second straight start.

The Cardinals will look to slow down the Brewers after winning 14 of 19 against them last season, posting an 8-2 mark in Milwaukee.






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