The Milwaukee Brewers look to continue their good fortune at home on Friday when they open a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds.
The Brewers recorded their sixth straight home series win with a 5-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday in the deciding game of their three-game set.
Milwaukee, which improved to 20-11 at home, has won four of its last six games overall. Cincinnati, in turn, has won eight of its last 10 games.
The Brewers’ William Contreras and Christian Yelich each had an RBI single and Willy Adames belted a two-run homer to highlight a five-run sixth inning on Wednesday. The homer was Adames’ second in his last three games.
“It’s like shaking a bottle when it’s carbonated,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of his team’s big inning. “It’s going to fizz but at some point, it’s going to pop.”
Milwaukee will send Freddy Peralta (4-3, 3.95 ERA) to the mound for the series opener against Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene (4-2, 3.61) in a battle of right-handers.
Peralta, 28, recorded a no-decision on Saturday after allowing four runs (three earned) and five walks in 3 1/3 innings against the Detroit Tigers. He has pitched well in his career versus the Reds, posting a 5-2 record with a 2.88 ERA in 19 appearances (13 starts). He has struck out 102 batters in 78 innings.
Peralta would be well served to pitch carefully to Jeimer Candelario, who homered twice and drove in all four runs in Cincinnati’s 4-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday.
Candelario has gone deep five times and hit safely in 10 of 11 games in June after struggling mightily to begin the season.
“(He’s) just settling in,” Reds manager David Bell said. “We acquired Jeimer because he’s been a good player in this league for a while now. And to Jeimer’s credit, he just stayed with it. He trusted himself. He worked really hard. He’s in a position right now where he’s able to fight and have great at-bats.”
Greene, 24, improved to 4-0 with a 3.08 ERA in his last eight starts after permitting four runs in 6 2/3 innings of an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on June 6.
His first loss of the season came at the hands of the Brewers, who battered him for seven runs (six earned) on six hits — including two homers — in a 7-2 decision on April 10.
Greene is 0-4 with an 8.25 ERA in five career meetings with Milwaukee. He has been taken deep 11 times in 24 innings by the Brewers.
Milwaukee is playing the waiting game with rookie third baseman Joey Ortiz, who has sat out the last two contests with a sore right hamstring.
“We’ve got to take a look at that,” Murphy said. “He tested out really well (on Wednesday). We didn’t push him. We won’t push him (Thursday), and then Friday we’ll take a look and see where he’s at. Fingers crossed.”
The National League Rookie of the Month in May, Ortiz is batting .285 with five homers and 23 RBIs this season.
–Field Level Media