Cardinals at Brewers Preview: Six things you should know before the upcoming series

Six is a special number for Cardinals fans. First and foremost, it is the number of the greatest Cardinal of all time, Stan Musial. It is the number of runs the team must score for the fans to get cheap drinks at Mobile On the Run. It is the number of kilometers I ran walked on Sunday for Cardinals Care. It is only fitting that six is the number used to countdown some interesting facts you might not know about this upcoming Brewers/Cardinals series.

6 games left against Milwaukee (after tonight's game)

The 89-54 Cardinals are set to take on the 62-81 Brewers in a three game series on September 15, 16, and 17 in Milwaukee and finish the season series at home with a three game series on September 24, 25, 26, and 27. With the Pirates only 2.5 games back in the standings, these games will be critical in determining which team wins the brutal National League Central.

5 shutouts against Milwaukee this season

The Cardinals pitching staff has thrown a total of fourteen shutouts this season. For the most part, these have been pretty evenly dispersed among the teams they have faced, with Atlanta, Cincinnati, Colorado, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco all victims of one shutout and Chicago of two. Milwaukee has been shutout five times in their eight losses to the Cardinals, losing those games with a combined score of 17-0. My personal favorite came on April 24, when Carlos Martinez held the Brew Crew scoreless for seven innings, striking out eight.

4 losses against the Brewers

Against NL Central foes, El Birdos have the best record against the Brewers, winning eight games and losing four for a .667 winning percentage and have outscored the Brewers forty-four runs to twenty-six.

3 is the Cardinals starters' ERA

3.02, to be exact, with a 3.46 FIP. On the flip side, the Brewers rank twenty-seventh in the league with a 4.70 ERA and 4.40 FIP.

2 Brewers starters with over a 20% strikeout rate

Mike Fiers leads the Brewers in K% and K/9 with 23.8% and 9.23, respectively. The most valuable starting pitcher on the staff has been Taylor Jungmann, who leads the starters in fWAR with 2.2. He boasts a strikeout rate of 21.9% and average 8.13 strikeouts per nine innings. The Cardinals will miss both of the pitchers, however, since Fiers is now a member of the Astros and Jungmann started the Brewers game on Sunday against the Pirates.

Two pitchers the Cardinals will face are Jimmy Nelson and Ariel Pena, who rank third and fourth (or second and third, with Fiers being an Astro) for the Brewers in K%, with 19.8% and 19.1%, respectively. Nelson has been the Brewers second most valuable starter with 2.1 fWAR, while Pena has only made one start.

1 is where the Cardinals pitching staff ranks in ERA, LOB%, and HR/FB

The pitching staff of the Cardinals is having a historic year (NO JINX). The entire pitching staff has an ERA under three at 2.87, a  LOB% of 79.2%, and HR/FB rate 8.8%. The Cardinals have played twelve games against the Brewers this year and allowed 26 runs for a 2.16 ERA against the divisional foes, who have gone 16-82 with runners in scoring position, grounded into eleven double plays, and hit four home runs in the season series.

Game Specs:

09/15, 1900: CARLOS "EL GALLO" MARTINEZ (13-7, 3.12 ERA)
VS. ARIEL PENA (1-0, 4.50 ERA)

09/16, 1900: JAIME "HOTME" GARCIA (8-5, 2.33 ERA)
VS. WILY PERALTA (5-8, 4.14 ERA)

09/17, 1900: JOHN "PEANUT" LACKEY (11-9, 2.89 ERA)
VS. JIMMY NELSON (11-12, 3.95 ERA)

Check out Brew Crew Ball for more Brewers info!