5 monster MLB series you’ll want to see live in June

2. St. Louis Cardinals @ Milwaukee Brewers, June 20-23

In another series with some potential playoff implications, the only two true contenders in the NL Central will face off in a four-game series at the end of the month. Currently, the Cardinals are just half a game above the Brewers in the standings. Their +45 run differential against the +5 mark by the Brewers and their 288 runs scored against the Brewers’ 267 appear to make the Cardinals the favorite to prevail in this series.

The Brewers have had issues to begin the year with their bats going quiet for extended periods of time. Jace Peterson and Rowdy Tellez have been surprise contributors to a lineup featuring a plethora of exciting names but Christian Yelich still has not looked like himself and the club’s center field picture is still blurred. Corbin Burnes, Aaron Ashby and Eric Lauer have continued to do their things with Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff missing time with injuries, though, and their pitching staff has kept the club in games more often than not.

The Cardinals have been riding on Adam Wainwright, Paul Goldschmidt, Tommy Edman and Nolan Arenado’s backs through the first two months of the season as each of the quartet have been performing at All-Star-caliber levels.

Wainwright is nearly 41-years old but is sporting a 2.84 ERA across 12 starts. Edman has been a versatile piece that hits for power, steals a ton of bases and plays excellent defense at multiple positions. Goldschmidt and Arenado make up the best corner infield duo in the majors and have hit 12 and 11 home runs with .327 and .281 averages, respectively.

With the rest of the division being so weak, the Cardinals and Brewers only have each other to worry about come September and October. These series where they face off against the other are crucial.