The St. Louis Cardinals returned to Busch Stadium after a grueling roadtrip and finally won a series, taking two out of three games against the Milwaukee Brewers. Nolan Arenado was back to his superstar level performance, making a stellar, game-saving defensive play in game one and then hitting a walk-off homer in game two. Game three was a clunker but the Cardinals will be happy to get back to their winning ways.

The Cardinals (12-16, 4th in NL Central) continued their home cooking with two wins at Busch but will look to move past their road woes with a four-game series against another NL Central opponent. The Reds (15-13, 2nd in NL Central) are rejuvenated thus far in 2025 and are riding a nice four-game winning streak after sweeping the Rockies over the weekend. Unlike the Cardinals, the Reds have struggled at home to a 6-6 record as opposed to a winning record on the road.

In the first game of the series, two converted relievers will face off with the Cardinals sending Andre Pallante (2-1, 4.05 ERA) to the mound against Nick Martinez (0-3, 5.40 ERA), who is looking to get into the win column for the first time this year. Pallante is coming off of his shortest start of the season when he gave up four runs in 4.2 innings and Martinez has only finished six innings once this year as he has struggled with his command since moving to the rotation.

Game two features two pitchers who are both coming off of quality starts in their last outings. Miles Mikolas (0-2, 5.70 ERA) completed his longest and best start of the year against the Braves, throwing six shutout innings but getting saddled with a no-decision thanks to another bullpen collapse. Brady Singer (4-0, 3.62 ERA) tied his season-high with eight strikeouts in his last game but he has given up a homer in each of his last three starts.

Wednesday evening will see Steven Matz (2-0, 1.80 ERA) move back to the rotation for his second start of the season as the Cardinals move back to a six-man rotation until their next off day. In his first start, Matz took a limited pitch count into the fifth inning and only gave up one run in a win. He has pitched twice in the bullpen since that start, notching a win and covering 3.1 innings of work. Lefty Andrew Abbott (2-0. 3.60 ERA) is coming off of his shortest and worst start of the year. Against the Rockies, Abbott walked five, gave up five hits, and four runs in just four innings but was bailed out by the Reds offense.

In Thursday’s series-ending afternoon game, the Cardinals will have their best starter, Matthew Liberatore (2-2, 3.19 ERA) facing off against Reds ace Hunter Greene (3-2, 2.70 ERA). Liberatore has thrown at least six innings in each of his starts this year, tallying a quality start in four of the five outings, and only walking two batters all season. Greene is coming off a nice rebound start and has continued his ascent as a top pitcher in the league with 43 strikeouts and a 0.85 WHIP in 36.2 innings.

NOTES:

• Ivan Herrera is expected to begin a rehab assignment this weekend.
• Jose Barrero, who was on a 19-game on-base streak, has been called up to St. Louis with Thomas Saggese being sent down to Memphis.
• Lars Nootbaar set an April record with 10 lead-off walks.
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