NL Central-leading Brewers out to rebound vs. Cardinals

The Milwaukee Brewers will look to bounce back from a rare sweep behind right-hander Quinn Priester when they face the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.

Priester (12-2, 3.25 ERA) will be opposed by Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante (6-13, 5.28).

Milwaukee was idle Thursday after losing at Texas 6-3 on Wednesday as the Brewers were swept by the Rangers after getting outscored 16-7 in the three-game series. It was only the second time this season the Brewers were swept, and the first since dropping the first three games of the year on the road to the New York Yankees.

"We haven't had too many of these," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "In the last two years, this is the third time we've been swept, right? It stinks, but I don't think there's any team in baseball that has played 300 games and been swept (only) three times."

St. Louis also was off Thursday after losing at Seattle 4-2 in 13 innings Wednesday.

Milwaukee (89-58) entered Thursday's play with a 5 1/2-game lead in the National League Central over the Chicago Cubs. The Brewers had the best record in the National League by 2 1/2 games over the Philadelphia Phillies, who faced the New York Mets on Thursday.

The Cardinals (72-75) have lost three straight games and are 17 games behind the Brewers in the NL Central. They are 4 1/2 games out of the final NL wild-card spot.

Priester, acquired from Boston shortly after the start of the season, has won a franchise-record 11 consecutive decisions over his last 17 appearances going back to May 30, including 14 starts. Milwaukee has won all 17 of those games.

Priester is 9-2 with a 2.83 ERA in 21 starts and 3-0 with a 5.06 ERA in five relief appearances.

In his most recent start, Friday at Pittsburgh, he allowed two runs, six hits and one walk with six strikeouts in seven innings in a 5-2 Brewers victory.

Priester is 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA in 11 innings over two career starts against the Cardinals, both this season, allowing six runs in 11 innings.

Brewers catcher William Contreras was scratched from Wednesday's game, one day after he was hit by a pitch in the forearm. He is scheduled to be re-evaluated Friday.

Pallante is 0-6 with a 7.64 ERA in his last seven starts (33 innings) and has not earned a win since July 28.

In a start Saturday against the San Francisco Giants, he allowed two runs over six innings but was left with a no-decision in a 3-2 Cardinals victory.

"This year has pushed me out of my comfort zone," Pallante said after his last start about using his curveball more frequently. "So now I have to do things I'm not comfortable with doing. It challenges me to do it, and the more I do it, execute it, the more comfortable I'll be."

Pallante is 0-1 with a 5.33 ERA in 27 innings over 14 career appearances (two starts) vs. Milwaukee. He started once against the Brewers this season, allowing four runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings, but he did not get the decision in an 8-5 team victory June 14.