After a day off, the Milwaukee Brewers continue their homestand against the Arizona Diamondbacks for four games.
The Brewers were on a five game winning streak until Tuesday when the Detroit Tigers won 10-7. The crew did split the series with the Tigers, but they’re looking to hop back on the winning train. The team currently sits in third in the NL Central with a 29-26 record on the year.
The Diamondbacks have lost the last 15 out of 17 games; Their last loss being Tuesday against the New York Mets. They’re currently fifth in the NL West with a 20-37 record. On the road, the Diamondbacks are 9-21, which gives a little hope to the Brewers if their offense can perform and score some runs.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Thursday: Brett Anderson (2-3, 4.18 ERA) v. Jon Duplantier (0-0, 7.71 ERA)
RHP Jon Duplantier will get the ball Thursday for the Diamondbacks. Following a call-up on May 25, Duplantier hasn’t seen much of the big league action. He’s only had four career starts between 2019 and 2021; And saw another starting position on May 27 when Matt Peacock was scratched from the lineup with an illness.
In his start on the 27th, Duplantier gave up four runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings of work against the St. Louis Cardinals. It’ll be interesting to see how he’ll pitch at American Family Field against the Brewers offense. None of the Brewers have faced Duplantier in the big leagues, so things could be unpredictable.
LHP Brett Anderson starts for the crew on Thursday. In his last start which was against the Washington Nationals in the doubleheader, Anderson allowed three hits through three innings of work. He gave up a run in the third inning and allowed two runners to get on base in the fourth, then walked Josh Bell to load up the bases and his day was over in the fourth. Only striking out three, Anderson went 3.1 innings, allowing four hits, two runs, one error, and three walks.
He’s 2-3 on the year with a 4.18 ERA; the Brewers’ offense will need to step it up and provide some run support for the pitching crew.
Friday: Freddy Peralta (5-1, 2.38 ERA) v. Matt Peacock (2-1, 4.50 ERA)
Matt Peacock was scratched Tuesday from the D-Backs’ game due to an illness but in his last start on Sunday, he threw six innings and only gave up two runs. Pitching away from home, he has a 0.79 ERA in 11 innings of work. Friday will be Peacock’s fourth career start for the D-Backs.
It is likely that the Brewers will have Freddy Peralta take the mound on Friday. Peralta last pitched in the doubleheader against the Washington Nationals where he pitched a ‘complete’ game and 4-1 win. He allowed one run on four hits, and struck out seven. This was Peralta’s 10th consecutive start where he’s locked in at least seven strikeouts. Peralta is part of the trio that has really been carrying the Brewers starting pitching; His name could very well be one that would be in discussion for the Cy Young Award as well.
Saturday: Brandon Woodruff (4-2, 1.27 ERA) v. Merrill Kelly (2-6, 5.04 ERA)
Brandon Woodruff has been a powerhouse for the Brewers. Earning himself NL Player of the Week for the week of June 1st, Woodruff is very well putting himself into the Cy Young Award conversation. In his last start against the Washington Nationals, Woodruff secured his fourth win and under him, the Brewers are 8-3 on the season. While people are discussing the success of Jacob deGrom for the Mets, they really should be talking about Brandon Woodruff, because he has dominated his last 10 starts and sealed a spot as one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Sunday: Corbin Burnes (2-4, 2.24 ERA) v. TBD
Another pitcher that comes to no surprise when talking success is Corbin Burnes. In his last start on Monday against the Detroit Tigers, Burnes’ pitching didn’t factor into the decision as the Brewers would win in extra innings. Burnes struck out seven, and allowed just one run on six hits and walked two. He did start his season off astoundingly well when he struck out a total of 58 batters before issuing his first walk to Tommy Edman. Other than that, if we’re looking to put another pitcher in the Cy Young Award discussion, Burnes should definitely be a top choice, respectively.
It still has yet to be determined who will get the ball for the D-Backs on Sunday. We will update once we have received information on who that pitcher will be.
NOTABLE INJURIES
Madison Bumgarner is likely to not receive a start against Milwaukee as he exited Wednesday’s game with left shoulder discomfort and underwent an MRI that’ll potentially send him to the injured list. He went two innings and allowed five runs on eight hits and his ERA went to 5.73.
Lorenzo Cain is on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain after making what looked like a painful catch for him on Monday against the Tigers. Cain has three home runs and four stolen bases on the year so far for him and batted .247/.356/.352 slash line for the month of May. Tyrone Taylor has been called up from Nashville after recently being named Player of the Week and hit .553/.600/1.267 with three home runs in about 20 plate appearances.
A Little Fun…
Why not include a throwback in the preview? Hop in the time machine and go back to 2018 when Corey Knebel was on the mound for the Brewers. Angel Hernandez was the home plate umpire and made an awful call, walking Jake Lamb and both Brian Anderson (BA) and Bill Schroeder (Rock) ripped a new one to Hernandez on live television.
In honor of the Brewers and Diamondbacks starting their series tonight, lets go back to 2018 where BA and Rock ripped Angel Hernandez a new one on the air. pic.twitter.com/baUQTlkCtN
— Kyle Hoffenbecker (@KHoffenbecker) June 3, 2021
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