Cardinals face tall task vs. stellar Kyle Harrison, Brewers

The visiting St. Louis Cardinals will look to bounce back behind right-hander Michael McGreevy on Tuesday night and tie their three-game series with the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.

McGreevy (3-3, 2.40 ERA) will oppose left-hander Kyle Harrison (5-1, 1.77) in a matchup of starters who have pitched well recently.

The Brewers won 5-1 in the series opener Monday behind hard-throwing right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, who allowed one run on two hits over seven innings. Misiorowski (5-2) fanned 12 batters to raise his major-league-leading strikeout total to 100.

The Brewers' Christian Yelich belted a two-run homer off Matthew Liberatore, who settled in after allowing three runs in the first inning.

Milwaukee, coming off consecutive losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers, moved 2 1/2 games in front of second-place St. Louis in the Central. The Brewers are 13-4 in their last 17 games.

Harrison is 4-0 with an 0.96 ERA over his last five starts, allowing three runs in 28 innings and just one home run. He picked up the win in his previous start, yielding two hits and striking out 11 over seven scoreless innings in a 5-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday.

"He's been getting this good," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said following Harrison's last start. "... He found his breaking ball in the second inning and started locating that below the zone. The heater's got that up-shoot to it that makes it so tough on hitters. Fantastic. He was great. He's getting better and better."

Opponents are batting .211 against Harrison, who has never faced the Cardinals.

Milwaukee's William Contreras singled during the three-run first Monday to extend his hitting streak to nine games. He is batting .395 over that stretch, with one homer and five RBIs.

Despite Yelich's blast, the Brewers are last in the major leagues with 35 homers. The pitching staff has given up just 37, however, the fewest in the majors.

McGreevy, meanwhile, is 2-1 with a 1.57 ERA in four starts this month, allowing four runs in 23 innings with two homers.

Three of those runs came in his last start, a 7-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday. He scattered 10 hits over five innings, striking out one and walking one. He pitched six innings in each of his previous four starts.

"He wasn't as sharp as he would've liked to be," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said following McGreevy's last start. "He felt like he was predictable with some of his usage, as well. Didn't land his curveball at the rate he normally does, as well. Overall, just a lot of contact. Got to two strikes and wasn't able to put a whole lot of guys away."

McGreevy has yet to face the Brewers in his career.

Ivan Herrera drove in the Cardinals' only run in the series opener on a fielder's choice grounder. Herrera is hitting .302 over his last 15 games with two homers, two doubles, a triple and nine RBIs.

--Field Level Media