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Cardinals-Brewers Preview

May 27, 2009 - 5:31 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

St. Louis (26-19) at Milwaukee (27-18), 1:05 p.m. EDT

Ryan Braun has played a significant role in Milwaukee's recent dominance against St. Louis. An injury to the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year helped the Cardinals earn a rare win over the Brewers.

After falling into a tie for first place with their NL Central rivals, the Brewers (27-19) may again be without one of their top hitters in the finale of a three-game series with the Cardinals (27-19) on Wednesday.

St. Louis snapped a four-game skid against Milwaukee with an 8-1 win on Tuesday night. The Cardinals lost 11 of their previous 12 versus the Brewers.

Milwaukee only needed one run in 10 innings to win in the series opener, but crossing the plate once Tuesday was far from enough. The Brewers went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position, and lost Braun after he was hit on the right wrist by a pitch in the third inning by Adam Wainwright.

Braun, batting .323 with eight homers and 31 RBIs, is uncertain for Wednesday's matchup.

"It makes it tough, but everybody goes through (injuries)," Milwaukee first-year manager Ken Macha told the team's official Web site. "We're going to have to pitch well and get some contributions from other guys."

Braun is hitting .427 with eight homers, eight doubles and 20 RBIs in his last 22 games against St. Louis, but the Brewers were having trouble at the plate prior to this series. They're averaging 2.0 runs over their last five games, losing four.

Milwaukee has been without shortstop J.J. Hardy (back spasms) the past four games. His status for Wednesday is uncertain.

Hardy is 5 for 11 (.455) against St. Louis' Todd Wellemeyer (4-4, 5.19 ERA), who is set to take his turn in the rotation.

The right-hander gave up four hits in six innings to earn the win in a 5-0 victory over Kansas City on Friday. He posted a 9.90 ERA in losing his previous two outings.

Wellemeyer faced Milwaukee on May 17, walking a career-high seven while allowing four runs and three hits in 5 2-3 innings during an 8-2 loss. He's 0-3 with a 5.97 ERA in four starts and seven relief appearances versus the Brewers.

Manny Parra (3-5, 5.79), who matched up with Wellemeyer earlier this month, gets the call for the Brewers. The left-hander surrendered two runs and five hits in six innings to earn the win. He's 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA in six starts and one relief appearance against St. Louis.

Parra, though, lasted just 3 1-3 innings in his last outing, giving up nine runs - eight earned - and eight hits in an 11-3 loss to Minnesota on Friday. He went 3-1 with a 2.79 ERA in his previous five starts.

Opponents have been pitching around Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols in recent weeks, and Parra isn't likely to be an exception.

Pujols has walked 10 times in his last five games, going 1 for 8 during that span, and leads the major leagues with 12 intentional walks. He drove in two runs Tuesday with a sacrifice fly and a single.

It was a strong performance overall for St. Louis' lineup, which hit four home runs in a game for the second time this season.

"Albert's not going to hit them every single day, though you think he's going to, so for the other guys to come through finally, it's big for us," Cardinals leadoff batter Skip Schumaker said

Khalil Greene, though, went 0 for 3 in his first start since May 17 due to anxiety-related problems. The shortstop is batting .083 (2 for 24) in his last 10 games.