Game Thread #73: Milwaukee Brewers (38-34) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (37-34)

Brewers go for series victory in fourth game versus Cardinals

In a game that became contentious at times, the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the third of their four-game set yesterday at American Family Field. The headlines follow Willson Contreras, who caused a ruckus after (inadvertently, surely) knocking Caleb Durbin down on a play at first base — but after a couple of stray pitches, Contereras’ defiance in the face of, ah, “criticism” from the Brewer dugout, his antics after homering in the top of the ninth, and his postgame comments, we may be in for an interesting finale today.

In terms of actual baseball, this contest will determine who heads into the week in second place in the National League Central. The Cardinals will send Miles Mikolas to the mound, while the Brewers will counter with Quinn Priester.

Mikolas, who is nearing his 37th birthday, has had mixed results since returning from a three-year stint in Japan from 2015-17. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2018, in his first year back, but led the league in losses in 2019 before missing all of the 2020 season and most of 2021. He returned to the All-Star Game in 2022, but it’s been mostly a struggle since: in 2023, Mikolas led the league in hits and earned runs allowed, and in 2024, he had negative bWAR after going 10-11 with a 5.35 ERA in 32 starts. He’s been okay in 2025: in 13 starts, Mikolas holds a pedestrian 4.48 ERA but a better 3.77 FIP; he’s hardly striking anyone out, but he has historically kept his walks low (he’s not recreating his 2024 season in which he led the league in walks per nine, but he has a respectable 2.3/9 number this year) and this season is doing a good job of limiting home runs. He might be due in that department, though, as his 0.7 HR/9 would be the lowest of any of his last five seasons (back to 2019, since he didn’t play in 2020).

Priester has looked good lately and is coming off one of his best appearances of the year, when he went six innings, didn’t walk anybody, struck out seven, and allowed only one run against Atlanta on Tuesday. For the season, Priester has a 3.65 ERA and 4.21 FIP, but in his last seven outings going back to May 7, he has a 2.35 ERA and 3.52 FIP, and he’s walked only 2.3 batters per nine, significantly below his season mark of 3.8.

Milwaukee could really use a breakout day from their offense. They came close on Saturday but couldn’t quite find the big hit in the late innings. The one change to their lineup today will give the recently acquired Drew Avans his first — and possibly only, with the impending return of Daz Cameron from the paternity list — appearance as a Brewer, as he’ll start in left field.

One minor roster note: Eddie Rosario, who signed a minor league deal with the Brewers on May 15, has used his opt-out clause. He played well in 20 games for the Nashville Sounds, but no promotion appeared imminent, and he’ll take his chances elsewhere.

Happy Father’s Day, everyone! Who do you think the Contreras brothers’ dad, William Sr., is cheering for today?

First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.