Rookie right-hander Nick Nastrini will face the daunting triple task of trying for his first major league victory, helping the Chicago White Sox avoid a sweep, and ending the team’s season-high 10-game losing streak when they close a three-game series against the host Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon.
Nastrini (0-4, 9.92 ERA) will oppose Milwaukee ace right-hander Freddy Peralta (3-3, 3.61).
Milwaukee rallied to win the second game of the series 4-3 Saturday on Willy Adames’ walk-off single in the 10th inning.
After being held to one run through six innings by starter White Sox starter Garrett Crochet, the Brewers broke through courtesy of three walks by the bullpen to make the score 3-3 in the seventh on a two-run single by Adames.
For Chicago, Gavin Sheets had a two-run homer and Andrew Benintendi a solo shot off Brewers rookie Robert Gasser, who had not given up a homer in his first four major league starts.
Chicago (15-44), off to the worst start in franchise history, has lost 14 of its past 15 games.
“It’s tough, you know, but I feel like the guys in here really rally around each other, as opposed to teams I’ve been on in the past,” Crochet said. “I feel like this is a really good group. You know, we come in every day just trying to win games.”
In Nastrini’s most recent start, he allowed three runs on three hits in five innings of a 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday. He has given up 20 runs (18 earned) on 19 hits in 16 1/3 innings this season, with 17 walks and 13 strikeouts.
Milwaukee, now a season-high 12 games over .500, has won five straight vs. Chicago and nine of the past 10 meetings. The Brewers have won four games in a row overall and are 12-3 in their past 15 homes games after a 5-7 start at American Family Field.
Peralta has been solid in his past two outings, with little to show for the efforts. In his most recent start, he allowed one run on three hits, striking out 11 in 5 2/3 innings on a career-high 111 pitches, but he did not get a decision in a 6-3, 10-inning loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
“I wasn’t trying to get a lot of strikeouts,” Peralta said after that outing. “Sometimes, I want to get deep in a game. I was having a lot of swings and misses today and some foul balls. That’s why my pitch count was way high today.”
Before that, he allowed one run — a leadoff homer in the first — over seven innings in a 1-0 loss at Miami on May 22.
Peralta, who has not won since April 30 against the Tampa Bay Rays, was 0-3 with a 4.08 ERA in five starts in May.
Peralta is 1-0 in three career games (two starts) vs. the White Sox and has not given up a run in his 13 innings against them.
Nastrini has never faced the Brewers.
–Field Level Media