The Milwaukee Brewers now sit 3.5 games ahead of the second place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. After sweeping the Chicago White Sox, the crew is looking to continue that hot streak as they travel to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers for a three-game series.
Hot Offense
Both teams seem to have a groove going with their offense. With Milwaukee, Christian Yelich has been at the front of that push, basically carrying the offense on his back at some points. Rookies Andruw Monasterio and Sal Frelick have both gotten hot and are crushing it at the plate as well. The temperature is definitely climbing up with the Brewers’ offense, the postseason is looking pretty promising.
The Dodgers are 12-1 since the trade deadline and continue to show no signs of slowing down. Hot hitter Freddie Freeman is looking like a forerunner for the NL MVP, slugging .723 in his last 30 games with eight homeruns and 26 driven in. Let’s not forget others such as Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez who have also been contributing to the Dodgers lineup. Betts is slugging .656 with nine homers and 24 driven in, while Martinez has crushed 25 homers on the season and has hit nine in his last 30 games. As usual, the Dodgers and the postseason are almost a guarantee.
Projected Pitching Matchups
Tuesday, August 15: Milwaukee Brewers- Adrian Houser (4-3), Los Angeles Dodgers- Bobby Miller (6-2)
So far, Adrian Houser has been alright in his role as a starter for the Brewers. His last start against the Colorado Rockies wasn’t the greatest, allowing four runs on five hits and only struck out five. He’s currently sitting with an ERA of 4.38 in 78 innings of work. Houser however has been a solid contributor to the starting rotation and hopefully Tuesday will bring a better quality start.
For Los Angeles, Bobby Miller has shown that he can help drive a win home for the team. In his last start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he went 6 innings, allowing four hits, walked four, and struck out four. With an ERA of 3.89 in 13 starts, Miller continues to improve with each start on the mound.
Wednesday, August 16: Milwaukee Brewers- Wade Miley (6-2), Los Angeles Dodgers- Clayton Kershaw (10-4)
I’m not gonna lie, at first, I was a little skeptical with bringing Wade Miley back to Milwaukee. However, Miley has actually been one of the better pitchers in the starting rotation for the crew. In 15 starts, he’s putting up an ERA of 2.90 and has allowed only nine home runs. The Brewers are likely to get a win with Miley on the mound, that’s if they can get past Clayton Kershaw.
You hear the name Clayton Kershaw and reactions are mixed. Kershaw is arguably one of the best pitchers in the league, and if the Brewers want to win, they’re going to have to break Kershaw down. In 100.1 innings of work, Kershaw is posting an ERA of 2.51, striking out 109 total batters an holds a 10-4 record. In his last start against the Colorado Rockies, he went five innings allowing one run on three hits and struck out three.
Thursday, August 17: Milwaukee Brewers- Corbin Burnes (9-6), Los Angeles Dodgers- Lance Lynn (9-9)
Lately, Corbin Burnes has been dominating on the mound. In his last six of seven outings, he’s put up quality starts and seems to be returning to his Cy Young self. With Burnes being a strong pitcher right now, one can hope that the Brewers can capitalize on that and take home a win. While he struggled a bit in his last start against the Chicago White Sox, allowing five runs on eight hits, he’s still posting an ERA of 2.50 in his last seven starts with 50 strikeouts.
Prior to the trade deadline, Lance Lynn was on the struggle bus with the White Sox. Holding a 6.47 ERA with the White Sox, coming to LA seemed to have changed that for Lynn. He’s gone 3-0 in his starts with the Dodgers only allowing four runs across 18 innings of work with an ERA of 2. Hopefully the White Sox version of Lynn is on the mound for the Brewers on Thursday.
I’m hopeful the Brewers will come out on top in this series. They have three good pitchers on the mound and the way they’ve been hitting lately is looking pretty promising. I don’t think they’ll sweep the Dodgers, but taking two out of three will be alright with me.
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