The Milwaukee Brewers (13-10) and St. Louis Cardinals (12-9) open a three-game set Monday at 7:45 p.m. ET at Busch Stadium.

Surprisingly, this is the third 2019 series between the two NL Central rivals. Milwaukee holds a 5-2 edge, taking three of four at home and two of three in St. Louis.

The Brewers just dropped three of four at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers, capped by a tough 6-5 loss Sunday when Cody Bellinger hit a solo homer off Josh Hader with two outs in the top of the ninth.

The Cardinals took the final two of three at home from the New York Mets, including Sunday's 6-4 win.

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook; for a full-set of today's sports odds, access them at USA TODAY Sports.

Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals: Projected Starting Pitchers

RHP Adrian Houser vs. RHP Jack Flaherty

Houser will make his first major-league start. He was 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA and an 18/2 K/BB ratio in three starts at Triple-A this season. He appeared in seven major-league games last year, all in relief, posting a 3.29 ERA in 13.2 innings. He's faced the Cardinals just once in 2018, pitching two hitless and scoreless innings.

Flaherty is 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA in four outings. The 2014 first-round draft pick has already faced the Brewers twice this year. He allowed four runs in 4.1 innings on March 29 - a no-decision of a 9-5 win - and yielded five runs on nine hits and one walk in 2.2 innings of an 8-4 loss last Tuesday. The three-year veteran is 1-2 with a 4.58 ERA in seven career starts vs. Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals: By the Numbers

• Brewers RF Christian Yelich has torched the Cardinals this year, batting .500 (12 for 24) with eight HRs and19 RBIs.
• Brewers LF Ryan Braun is a .556 career hitter (5 for 9) with two homers vs. Flaherty. CF Lorenzo Cain is 6 for 14 (.429) with one homer vs. Flaherty.

• The Cardinals are 1 for 13 (.077) with 10 K's vs. Josh Hader this season. But Hader has given up a homer in each of his last three appearances, including Marcell Ozuna's solo shot last Monday.

Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals: Key Injuries

Brewers 2B Mike Moustakas left Saturday's game with a fracture to the tip of his right ring finger. He sat Sunday and is listed day to day.

Cardinals CF Harrison Bader (hamstring), on the 10-day IL, is expected to be activated for the series finale.

Milwaukee Brewers at St. Louis Cardinals: Picks and Betting Tips

Moneyline: Houser's Triple-A stats make the Brewers ( +138) the strongest play, as it's a good value. The Cardinals are -160.

Against the spread: Avoid the run line, but if you must, the Cards ( -1.5, +124) would be the way to go. The Brewers are +1.5, -144.

Over/under: The O/U is 4-2-1 in their seven head-to-head games this season, and the Brewers have played four UNDERS in a row. We're doing a slight lean on the Over 8.5, -118.

Johnny's MLB record since Friday: 3-1 (ML 1-0, ATS 1-0, O/U 1-1)

Strongest MLB plays: 1-0

Follow Johnny on Twitter @JohnnyParlay11

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