The Milwaukee Brewers kick off a rare five-game series on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. The extra fifth game was added to this week’s series due to a rainout that forced the cancellation of a game on May 5th. After Thursday’s finale, the two teams will not face each other again until the final weekend of the 2026 season.
Entering play on Monday, the Brewers hold a six-game lead in the NL Central over the Chicago Cubs. They are seven-and-one-half games clear of the third-place Cardinals. Thus far in 2026, Milwaukee has claimed four of the five games played against St. Louis.
With the number of games to be played this week at Busch Stadium, the outcome of this series will speak volumes about division dominance. Here are the probable pitching matchups, a review of Milwaukee’s past week, and key Cardinals players the Brewers need to contend with.
Monday, July 6, 6:45 CT: Shane Drohan (MIL) vs. Michael McGreevy (STL)
Tuesday, July 7, 1:15 CT: Jacob Misiorowski (MIL) vs. Dustin May (STL)
Tuesday, July 7, 6:45 CT: Both teams are undecided
Wednesday, July 8, 6:45 CT: Kyle Harrison (MIL) vs. Andre Pallante (STL)
Thursday, July 9, 6:45 CT: Undecided (MIL) vs. Kyle Leahy (STL)
The Brew Crew just finished a 5-2 week, thereby maintaining their division lead. To begin this stretch, Milwaukee welcomed the Cincinnati Reds to American Family Field for four NL Central tilts.
On Monday, the Brewers earned a comeback victory, 5-3, thanks to a two-run go-ahead homer in the eighth inning from Joey Ortiz. Behind Brandon Sproat’s gritty start, Milwaukee cruised past the Reds, 7-2, on Tuesday. Sproat threw a career-high 106 pitches and allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings to earn his third victory. He struck out seven and walked two to earn the win.
Garrett Mitchell was the hero on Wednesday, going 4-for-4, which included a go-ahead RBI-triple to break a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning. Mitchell scored on a wild pitch to round out the scoring in a 4-2 triumph.
Misiorowski toed the rubber on Thursday in a highly-hyped matchup with Reds’ hurler Chase Burns, but Cincinnati’s ace got the better of the Miz. Sal Stewart led off the game with a long home run, and Cincinnati never trailed to avoid the sweep, winning 7-2. Burns earned his 10th victory of the season, and Misiorowski’s record dropped to 9-4.
Milwaukee left town and flew to Phoenix for a 4th-of-July weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Brewers outlasted Arizona, 7-4, in 11 innings in the opener on Friday, but the Diamondbacks answered with a 4-3 decision on Saturday. The more troubling news from the loss was that Milwaukee’s starter, Brandon Woodruff, was forced to leave the game in the fourth inning with shoulder discomfort. Following the game, the team placed its veteran pitcher on the injured list, and Woodruff will be out of action through the All-Star break.
In the rubber match on Sunday, Milwaukee was stymied early by Arizona All-Star Eduardo Rodriguez. The lefthander limited Brewer hitters to just three hits over the first six innings, but the tables turned in the seventh. Andrew Vaughn led off the frame with a single, and he trotted ahead of Jake Bauers, who launched a 400-foot home run, his 16th, to take a 2-1 lead. From there, Milwaukee’s bullpen held on to claim the series.
Just like Milwaukee, the Cardinals have won five of their last seven games to bolster their record to 47-40. In their most recent series, the Redbirds took two of three games from both the Cubs and the Atlanta Braves on the road.
The Cardinals entered this year with the third-youngest roster in all of MLB with an average age of 27.4. Their resurgence in 2026 follows three seasons in which they did not make the playoffs while sporting losing records in two of them. Because of that, manager Oliver Marmol has been placed squarely on the hot seat, but his young team has responded this season.
24-year-old Jordan Walker, who was just named to his first All-Star game, is the main slugger in the St. Louis lineup. The rightfielder leads the Cardinals in home runs (20), RBI (67), hits (97), and batting average (.292). First baseman Alec Burleson is putting together a solid first half, hitting .281 while slugging 14 homers and driving in 63 runs.
Pallante leads St. Louis with ten wins on the mound while sporting a 3.60 ERA. McGreevey leads the team with a 3.14 ERA, and closer Riley O’Brien has 22 saves, which is the most in the National League.
In order to achieve a four-peat as NL Central champs, the Brewers know they need to take control of the teams within their division. Thus far in 2026, they have done just that, but the Cardinals know that this series is crucial to their postseason hopes.
Milwaukee is 15-6 against divisional foes, the best record of any team, and slightly better than the Cardinals’ 14-9 mark. With the All-Star break looming, success in the five games in St. Louis this week could shape out to be a damaging blow to the other rival squads. Winning at least three would strengthen the Brewers’ hold. Anything beyond that could spell the beginning of the end to those chasing Milwaukee in the standings.
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