MLB Game Preview - Milwaukee at St. Louis

Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:45 PM EDT

Things are beginning to even out between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers.

After the Brewers won five of the first six meetings behind the red-hot hitting of Christian Yelich, the Cardinals have won the past two games while keeping Yelich fairly quiet. They'll meet for the ninth time this season on Tuesday night in St. Louis.

The Cardinals were the dominant team in the series opener on Monday, especially in the later innings, scoring eight runs down the stretch to pull away for a 13-5 victory.

St. Louis will call up rookie right-hander Daniel Ponce de Leon from Triple-A Memphis and start him on Tuesday in his season debut.

Ponce de Leon is taking the place of Michael Wacha, who was placed on the 10-day IL on Monday with patellar tendinitis in his left knee.

Ponce de Leon went 0-2 in 11 games last season with the Cardinals, including four starts.

"Seeing a lot of familiar faces around the locker room is nice, and the way the team has been playing lately, they look good," Ponce de Leon said before the win on Monday.

Yelich was 11-for-21 in the first six games against St. Louis this season with eight home runs and 18 RBIs, but he went 0-for-4 on Monday and is 1-for-7 with an RBI in the past two games against the Cardinals.

Ponce de Leon didn't seem too concerned with Yelich anyway.

"Just another hitter," Ponce de Leon said. "He's human."

Zach Davies is set to make his fifth start of the season for the Brewers.

Davies (2-0, 1.19) has allowed one earned run over his past three outings, and three earned runs in 22 2/3 innings overall. Davies has made it through the sixth inning just once, however, a number he'd like to improve.

"My goal is to pitch six, seven innings every time out there," Davies said after going five innings in his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, a 3-1 loss in which he didn't receive a decision.

Davies has avoided the Cardinals so far this season, but went against them twice in 2018, losing both outings and owning a 9.28 ERA in those games.

He last faced the Cardinals on May 29, allowing five runs and eight hits in five innings of the 6-1 loss in Milwaukee. He also went up against them on April 2 of last season, giving up seven runs (six earned) in 5 2/3 innings of the 8-4 loss.

Davies hasn't benefited from the type of run support provided to other Milwaukee starters this season. The Brewers haven't scored more than four runs in any of his first four starts.

St. Louis third baseman Jedd Gyorko has been limited to pinch-hitting duties since his last start on April 11 against the Dodgers, but he'll likely be in the lineup Tuesday.

Gyorko is 13-for-20 in his career against Davies with four doubles and a home run.

Cardinals leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter has also been very successful against Davies, going 10-for-22 with four doubles and three home runs, but other key players have struggled against Davies.

Kolten Wong is 2-for-13, Yadier Molina is 4-for-17, and Dexter Fowler is 3-for-18.

--Field Level Media