Burleson (.939 OPS vs right-handers) headlines a Cardinals lineup that sends 6 left-handed bats into Misiorowski's dominant side

STL  0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 2
MIL  0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 -- 3

Milwaukee topped the Cardinals 3-2 last night in game two of the three-game series. Alec Burleson homered (26) and Thomas Saggese drove in a run, accounting for both St. Louis runs, but the Cardinals managed just 3-for-30 with one walk as a team. Brice Turang's two-run homer in the fifth put Milwaukee ahead for good.

THE BREAKDOWN

WHAT WORKED
• Thomas Saggese singled on a line drive in the second to score Jordan Walker, putting the Cardinals on top 1-0.
• Alec Burleson homered (26) in the third to extend the lead to 2-0.
• Gordon Graceffo threw two scoreless innings of relief, allowing no runs on three hits with three strikeouts.

WHAT DIDN'T
• The Cardinals went 3-for-30 with one walk -- a threadbare offensive output that left no margin for error.
• Quinn Mathews allowed three earned runs over five innings, including a two-run homer to Brice Turang in the fifth that flipped the lead.
• St. Louis scored in only two innings and could not answer after Milwaukee took the lead in the bottom of the fifth.

BOTTOM LINE

Edge: Alec Burleson ranks 6th of 232 NL batters with at least 60 plate appearances vs right-handed pitching in OPS (.939; league average .700), and faces a right-hander today -- his stronger side this season (he posts .549 against left-handed pitching).

Threat: Jacob Misiorowski ranks 1st of 133 NL pitchers with at least 60 innings in WHIP (0.80; league average 1.24) and is stronger against left-handed batters this season: .383 OPS allowed, compared with .585 OPS allowed against right-handed batters. The Cardinals send 6 left-handed batters directly into his dominant side today.

Watch: Jordan Walker -- one of only three right-handed bats in the lineup with a platoon path into Misiorowski's less dominant side -- ranks 14th of 172 NL hitters with at least 200 plate appearances in HR (29; league average 14.4). His .776 OPS vs right-handed pitching this season, compared with .863 vs left-handed pitching, means he faces Misiorowski from his own weaker side; watch whether he can generate hard contact on that footing.

Misiorowski vs Cardinals Left-Handed Batters. Jacob Misiorowski's platoon split is the structural fact of today's matchup: he ranks 3rd of 233 NL pitchers with at least 60 batters faced vs left-handed batters in OPS allowed (league average .715), and six of the Cardinals' nine projected starters land on that dominant side -- JJ Wetherholt, Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman, Bryan Torres, Nathan Church, and switch-hitter Leo Bernal batting left. Career plate-appearance samples for most of those hitters against Misiorowski are too small to compare: Burleson is 1-for-7, Gorman is 0-for-3 in 4 PA, and the remaining left-handed Cardinals starters have no career history against him on file.

Iván Herrera BvP vs Misiorowski. Iván Herrera is 3-for-6 with a home run, a walk, and a 1.167 SLG in 7 career plate appearances against Misiorowski -- the strongest Cardinals BvP line in the sample, though 7 PA is too small to weight heavily. As a right-handed batter he lands on Misiorowski's weaker side: Misiorowski ranks 51st of 246 NL pitchers with at least 60 batters faced vs right-handed batters in OPS allowed (league average .698).

Brice Turang vs Pallante. Brice Turang is 5-for-13 (.385 AVG, .385 OBP, .462 SLG) in 13 career plate appearances against Andre Pallante -- the deepest Brewer BvP sample against today's Cardinals starter, though 13 PA sits below the floor for reliable rate conclusions. As a left-handed batter, Turang lands on Pallante's weaker side this season: Pallante allows .686 OPS against left-handed batters, compared with .644 OPS against right-handed batters.

Misiorowski Times Through the Order. Jacob Misiorowski has pitched into a third pass in 25 of 29 starts. His second pass is his weakest this season at .546 OPS allowed, after .431 on the first; when he does reach the third pass (132 PA), opposing lineups have hit to a .418 OPS -- lower than both earlier passes. The Cardinals' best path is pressure in the first two times through before Misiorowski settles into the pattern his third-pass numbers represent.

-- Alec Burleson HR Streak. If Burleson reaches Misiorowski in the lineup, watch whether he extends his home-run streak to four consecutive games -- he has homered in each of the last 3 games (September 24 through last night) and faces a right-hander, his own stronger side -- though left-handed batters are Misiorowski's stronger side.

-- Andre Pallante Ground-Ball Rate vs Brewers Lineup. If the Brewers' right-handed bats make hard contact early, watch Pallante's ground-ball rate as the countermeasure -- he ranks 3rd of 133 NL pitchers with at least 60 innings in GB% (64.1%; league average 48.4%), and 5 right-handed Brewer bats land on his stronger side.

-- Jake Bauers On-Base Threat. If Bauers reaches base early in counts, watch his patience against Pallante -- he ranks 2nd of 172 NL hitters with at least 200 plate appearances in OBP (.390; league average .322), and his 5 career plate appearances against Pallante are too small a sample for a reliable read on that specific matchup.