Game Thread #47: Milwaukee Brewers (29-17) @ St. Louis Cardinals (25-20)

Game three in the Brewers-Cardinals series takes place this afternoon. A win for the Brewers today means that they will leave St. Louis with at least the same lead they came in to the series with, and will give them a chance to finish the series by pulling farther ahead tomorrow.

Adrian Houser is on the mound for his ninth start of the season today. He’s been solid for the Brewers so far this season, posting a 2.98 ERA and 3.14 FIP so far. In his last start on Monday, he pitched six innings and allowed just one run on three hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Houser has had some success against the Cardinals, posting a 2.25 ERA over 12 appearances (nine starts) in 52 innings against them. He did face the Cardinals earlier this season on April 16, allowing one run in 5.2 innings.

Meanwhile, Matthew Liberatore is making his second career MLB start this afternoon. He’s a 22-year old LHP originally drafted by Tampa Bay in 2018 and traded to St. Louis after the 2019 season. In his MLB debut on May 21, he pitched 4.2 innings and allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. He has also made seven starts in the minors this season, posting a 3.82 ERA and 10.4 K/9 over 40 innings.

With a lefty on the mound, the lineup sees a bit of change in game three as Craig Counsell goes with his lineup to counter it. Andrew McCutchen will bat in the leadoff spot and Tyrone Taylor will hit cleanup. Mark Mathias also gets a start at second. Kolten Wong, Rowdy Tellez and Omar Narvaez all are on the bench today.