The Cubs enter this series trailing the Brewers by 6.5 games in the NL Central. With half a season to go, that’s not an insurmountable lead.
And yet, the Cubs were swept by the Brewers last month at Wrigley Field and outscored 19-5 in the three games. They’ll need to make some sort of better statement in this series.
At the end of the weekend, the Cubs will trail by either 3.5, 5.5, 7.5 or 9.5 games. So… winning one or two would be a useful result, and an unlikely Cubs sweep would make the division
race really interesting. The Cubs are the hottest team in MLB right now, on a 10-3 run. So… you never know.
For more on the Brewers, here’s Harrison Freuck, manager of our SB Nation Brewers site Brew Crew Ball.
The Milwaukee Brewers have found their groove over the last month-plus. After getting out to a slow, injury-riddled start, they’ve gone 33-15 since the beginning of May to expand their NL Central lead.
Jake Bauers currently leads the small-ball offense with 14 homers and 48 RBI on the year, with Brice Turang at 11 homers and Jackson Chourio at 10. William Contreras, Gary Sánchez, Christian Yelich, Andrew Vaughn, and Garrett Mitchell have also played key roles offensively, with Cooper Pratt, Sal Frelick, David Hamilton, and Joey Ortiz rounding out the position player group. Pratt, whom the Brewers signed to an eight-year extension before he even set foot in the majors, has looked solid in his first week-plus with Milwaukee, as he’s picked up seven hits in nine games and stolen four bases while providing above-average defense. After all, it couldn’t get much worse than the recently released Luis Rengifo (.205/.280/.254 with no homers and below-average defense over 57 games).
On the pitching side, the Brewers have their top three starters in Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison, and Brandon Woodruff set to pitch this weekend. Miz has been simply incredible, with a 1.45 ERA and 138 strikeouts over 93 innings, while Harrison is also pitching at an All-Star level with a 2.50 ERA and 87 strikeouts over 72 innings. Woodruff missed the last month and a half, but he came back with a great start against the Reds on Monday, allowing just one hit and striking out 10 over six frames. The bullpen is anchored by Aaron Ashby, Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe, and Chad Patrick, with Grant Anderson, Craig Yoho, and Joel Kuhnel rounding things out.
This should be a fun weekend series in Milwaukee. Give me the Brewers to take two of three.
Fun facts
Here we are, halfway through the season and already the Cubs are playing a second series against the division-leading Brewers.
They lost all three when the teams met at Wrigley Field on May 18-20. Those were the third through fifth of the 10 straight losses that saw the Cubs tumble from first place, ahead by 2.5 games, to fourth place, 4.5 behind.
The teams have played 459 games, with the Brewers leading, 233-226. They have outscored the Cubs by just 12 runs, 2,077-2,065.
The Cubs are 107-120 at Milwaukee. They split six games last season, winning two of three in May and losing two of three in July.
They are 2-11-1 in series at Wisconsin since 2021, including being swept in three games the first year. Their last sweep visiting the Brewers was in the final three games of 2015. This will be their 26th series at Milwaukee since then.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Probable pitching matchups
Friday: Colin Rea, RHP (5-5, 4.99 ERA, 1.399 WHIP, 4.83 FIP) vs. Jacob Misiorowski, RHP (8-3, 1.45 ERA, 0.753 WHIP, 1.66 FIP)
Saturday: TBD vs. Kyle Harrison, RHP (8-1, 2.50 ERA, 1.056 WHIP, 3.05 FIP)
Sunday: TBD vs. Brandon Woodruff, RHP (2-1, 3.00 ERA, 0.889 WHIP, 3.27 FIP)
NOTE: One of the TBD games is likely to be started by new acquisition David Peterson, though at publication time the team had not announced which one. The other is likely going to be a bullpen game, though perhaps the team will surprise us. As always, we await developments.
Times & TV channels
Friday: 6:45 p.m. CT, Apple TV (how to watch). Announcers: Alex Faust (play-by-play), Ryan Spilborghs (analyst), and Tricia Whitaker (reporter).
Saturday: 6:10 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Sunday: 1:10 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Prediction
Don’t get swept.
Seriously, though, despite pitching matchups that appear to favor the Brewers, I do think the Cubs should be able to win at least one of these games.
Up next
The Cubs return to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the San Diego Padres beginning Monday evening.
