Walker Carries St. Louis as Milwaukee Tries to Spoil the Party

Jordan Walker is having himself a season — .292 and 20 home runs from a Cardinals lineup that has quietly made itself difficult to dismiss. Dustin May gets the start for St. Louis, a pitcher whose entire career has been one long battle against his own arm, and every healthy outing carries a small side of gratitude.

Milwaukee answers with Shane Drohan on the mound and William Contreras doing steady work at .295. Jake Bauers has added 16 home runs of his own, giving the Brewers a threat that St. Louis can’t entirely sleep on.

This is a division game with mid-season texture — not a blood feud, but not a nothing game either. Two teams in the NL Central sorting out the standings one series at a time, with Walker providing the most compelling individual storyline: a young Cardinal star asserting himself as the face of a franchise in transition.

The Central standings give it weight, Walker gives it a protagonist, and Dustin May gives it a comeback subplot — enough filling for a chunky rating on the Chunk Scale.