Gallardo squares off against Wainwright in St. Louis

Yovani Gallardo takes another shot at nailing down his first win of the season on Thursday when the Milwaukee Brewers continue a three-game set with the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

That may be easier said than done though for Gallardo, who is just 1-9 with a 6.72 ERA in 14 starts. The Mexican right-hander has pitched to a 5.73 ERA in his two starts this year, but has yet to record a decision.

Gallardo gave up four runs and nine hits in six innings against Arizona his last time out.

St. Louis, meanwhile, will counter with its ace in righty Adam Wainwright, who is 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA. Wainwright picked up his first win of the season on Sunday in San Francisco, as he allowed two runs, seven hits and struck out seven without walking a batter in seven innings.

"My stuff was great" Wainwright said. "I felt very good going into today, too. My arm is feeling as good as it ever has."

Wainwright has faced the Brewers 24 times (17 starts) and is 8-6 with a 2.07 ERA.

St. Louis won its third straight game in Friday's opener, as Shelby Miller was nearly flawless over seven innings of work, leading the Cardinals to a 2-0 win.

Miller (2-0) gave up a single to Norichika Aoki to begin the game and then proceeded to retire 21 of the next 22 batters he faced, including the final 17 after hitting Alex Gonzalez with a pitch in the second inning.

The 22-year-old right-hander registered a career-high eight strikeouts during his impressive outing.

"I feel like I'm the kind of pitcher that gets stronger as the game goes on," Miller said. "I felt stronger than I did earlier on. I was locating my pitches more, getting the ball down in the zone and throwing my curveball for strikes. I didn't feel fatigued at all."

Trevor Rosenthal followed Miller and tossed a 1-2-3 eighth, then Mitchell Boggs overcame a stressful ninth to pick up his second save of the season.

Kyle Lohse (0-1), who had spent the last five seasons with the Cardinals, tossed seven solid frames in the loss for the Brewers, who are just 2-7 to start the season.

"A couple mistakes cost me," Lohse said.

St. Louis was 9-6 versus the Brewers last season.