Cardinals Get Surprise Weather Break and Nobody Knows If It Helps or Hurts Their Hot Streak

The St. Louis Cardinals were grinding through a brutal 17-game stretch in 17 days when Mother Nature handed them an unexpected gift: Tuesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers got postponed due to inclement weather. But here's the thing that's messing with everyone's head right now. The Cardinals are absolutely rolling. They've won seven of their last eight games. So does a day off help them stay hot, or does it kill the momentum they've built? Nobody's totally sure.

The Schedule Shuffle Nobody Wanted

The Brewers wanted to make Wednesday a doubleheader to get both games in before their own brutal stretch. Milwaukee is facing 17 games in 17 days themselves, and their next trip back to St. Louis comes the week before the All-Star break. After some back and forth, the teams agreed to push the makeup game to July 7 instead. So Wednesday's matchup is still on, but the Cards' rotation gets to move back a day. That could be good news for a team running its arms ragged.

Pallante Looks Solid, Sproat Needs to Prove Something

Andre Pallante takes the mound Wednesday for St. Louis. The right-hander is 3-2 with a 3.73 ERA and just threw a quality start against Pittsburgh last week: one run on five hits, six strikeouts over six innings in a 5-4 Cardinals win. He's thrown at least five innings in all six of his starts, which is exactly what you want. The problem is his history against Milwaukee. In 15 career matchups, including three starts, Pallante is 0-2 with a 5.06 ERA.

Brandon Sproat takes the mound for the Brewers as a rookie still trying to figure things out. He's 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA and just took a 6-2 loss to Arizona last week, giving up four runs (including a three-run homer) over 4 1/3 innings. This is his first time facing the Cardinals. Manager Pat Murphy said Sproat was throwing incredible stuff for three innings before things fell apart.

The Injury That Stings

The rainout does give Jacob Misiorowski extra rest after he left his last start with right hamstring cramping. Murphy is optimistic he'll be ready to go. But there's bad news on the other end. Brewers reliever Angel Zerpa will have Tommy John surgery on Monday. The 26-year-old, acquired from Kansas City in the offseason, is facing 12 to 18 months of recovery. That's a massive blow to Milwaukee's bullpen depth.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.