(Photo credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images)

The last thing the St. Louis Cardinals want is for Mother Nature to rain on their parade.

The Cardinals, winners of seven of their past eight games, have momentum and are scheduled to host the Milwaukee Brewers in a key early season National League Central clash on Tuesday night. But the forecast for rain throughout the day makes the game iffy.

The Brewers have won four of the past five Central titles but are in last place in what is turning out to be an ultra-competitive division. They are 18-16 -- 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs and 2 1/2 behind second-place St. Louis.

The Cardinals added to their cushion over Milwaukee on Monday with a 6-3 victory in the opener of a three-game series.

The big blow was Ivan Herrera's bases-loaded, three-run double in the fourth after JJ Wetherholt had been intentionally walked with first base open.

'He enjoyed every second of it,' St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said of Herrera's reaction after he reached second.

Wetherholt also had two RBI singles.

Being asked to continue the run for St. Louis is right-hander Andre Pallante (3-2, 3.73 ERA). He is coming off a quality start in the Cardinals' 5-4 win last Wednesday against the Pirates in Pittsburgh: one run, five hits, no walks and six strikeouts in six innings.

Pallante has thrown at least five innings in each of his six starts. In his fifth season with the Cardinals, he has gone against the Brewers 15 times (three starts) and is 0-2 overall with a 5.06 ERA.

In his most recent appearance against Milwaukee, on Sept. 12, 2025, he allowed five runs (two earned) on three hits and four walks in five innings and did not strike out a batter. He was tagged with the 8-2 loss.

Pallante will look for offense from players such as first baseman Alec Burleson, who was named NL Player of the Week on Monday. In seven games last week, Burleson hit .407 with two home runs, 11 RBIs, three doubles, four walks, eight runs, a .741 slugging percentage and a .484 on-base percentage.

His hitting barrage did not continue Monday night, however; he was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.

The Brewers, meanwhile, got great news with the activation of outfielder Jackson Chourio, who hadn't played all season due to a fractured bone in his left hand. He suffered the injury while playing for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.

On Monday night, however, he appeared to be in midseason form, finishing his season debut with a 4-for-4 performance that included two doubles, a walk and a run.

Brice Turang was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, his fifth.

Milwaukee's scheduled starter on Tuesday, rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat (0-2, 6.75 ERA), took a 6-2 loss to the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks last Wednesday.

His first four outs came via strikeout, and he was staked to a 2-0 lead after the first three innings.

'Sproat was throwing the ball incredible for three innings. He was so good,' Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. 'But give credit to the Diamondbacks. They were getting dominated, and they came back and had a great approach and took advantage.'

That adjustment came in the fourth when Arizona scored four runs, with the big blow being Nolan Arenado's three-run homer that put Arizona ahead 4-2.

Sproat's final line for the game was four runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings with two walks and five strikeouts.

'No. Nothing different,' Sproat said when asked if anything besides the result changed for him after three innings. 'Mentally-wise or physically-wise.'

He has yet to face the Cardinals in his career.

--Field Level Media