With victories in their first two games, the Brewers have shown that they can compete with the American League’s top team. Their magic number for a playoff spot is down to nine, and they can secure a sweep in their short three-game road trip with a win this afternoon in Toronto.
Starting for the Brewers this afternoon will be Brandon Woodruff. He’s coming off of back-to-back rough starts against the Cubs and Diamondbacks. Over 10 innings in those two starts, he allowed eight runs on ten hits and four
walks, but also struck out 14. That resulted in his ERA rising from 2.06 to 3.10, though his FIP has remained stable at 3.53. The Brewers have won eight of Woodruff’s nine starts so far this season. He’s also working with an extra day of rest after Quinn Priester was moved back to start yesterday. This will be Woodruff’s first career start against the Blue Jays.
To earn the sweep, the Brewers will have to go through former Cy Young winner Max Scherzer. At 41 years old, he’s not the same pitcher that he was in his Cy Young years, but he can still be a tough pitcher to face. He still regularly pitches six to seven innings, and he’s allowed two or fewer runs in four of his last five starts. The one recent rough start was in his last start against the Twins — he allowed four runs in six innings. Overall, he has a 3.82 ERA and 4.65 FIP. However, he has been better in the month of August. He has a 2.61 ERA this month, but also has a nearly unchanged 4.67 FIP. The Brewers didn’t face him in 2024, but matched up against him three times in 2023 as a member of the Mets and Rangers. That season, the Brewers scored 10 runs off of him in 18 innings pitched. Over his career, he has a 2.68 ERA against the Brewers.
After the late rally yesterday, the Brewers will use the same lineup today. Brice Turang is leading off with Jackson Chourio following. Christian Yelich and William Contreras are in their usual spots. Sal Frelick bats fifth with Andrew Vaughn sixth. Isaac Collins, Caleb Durbin, and Andruw Monasterio round out the lineup.
First pitch is set for 12:37 p.m. CT. It will be on FanDuel Sports Wisconsin, as well as MLB Network out-of-market. It will also be on the Brewers Radio Network.
