Tonight at 8:10 p.m. ET, the Milwaukee Brewers (78-72) and St. Louis Cardinals (83-67) take the field at Busch Stadium for the opening matchup of a three-game series live from St. Louis. The game can be live streamed for free here. Milwaukee fans can hear all of the action on WTMJ 620 while St. Louis fans can do the same on KMOX 1120.

Milwaukee kicks off a nine-game road trip while St. Louis searches for its fourth straight win as it continues a nine-game homestand.

The Cardinals enter play atop the National League Central with a 3-1/2-game lead over the second place Pittsburgh Pirates while the third place Brewers trail St. Louis by five games, but are just 1-1/2 games out of the second wild-card spot that is held by the Pirates.

Wily Peralta (16-10, 3.75 ERA) mans the mound for Milwaukee while St. Louis counters with Lance Lynn who is 15-9 with a 2.73 ERA this season.

The Cardinals are confident in turning to Lynn as he has won four of his last five starts with the only defeat being a hard-luck 1-0 loss.

"To us, he's kind of in another gear in his career and he's been very consistent with how he's preparing and executing," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said via MLB.com. "The stuff's always been there but there's more of a consistent approach to how he's getting the first out from his last one and how he's gone about his business."

Lynn faces a Milwaukee lineup that has been paced by catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Lucroy leads the team with a .303 batting average and leads the entire MLB with 51 doubles.

Peralta, who set a career-high with his 16 wins thus far this season, will try his best to replicate the one-run 6.2-inning outing he had last Wednesday against the Miami Marlins.

"I think we needed it as a team," Peralta told MLB.com. "That's a good one. If we keep motivate and keep fighting. ... I think we'll get some wins."

Peralta faces a tough Cardinals lineup as the Brewers try to chip away at the division leaders. First baseman Matt Adams leads the team in batting average (.288) while shortstop Jhonny Peralta (21) and outfielder Matt Holliday (86) pace the team in homers and RBI respectively.

Third baseman Matt Carpenter has been a spark plug for St. Louis this season as he ranks second in the NL with 88 walks and tied for third with 93 hits.

The Cardinals look to create some separation in the NL Central race while the Brewers hope to chip away at the division and the NL wild-card race when these two rivals take the field tonight at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.