Well they did it; against my thoughts and worries, Milwaukee actually beat a contender. Reyes kept the Crew in check, but Guerra did as well. Reyes went 4 innings and managed to hold MIL to 0 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks. Guerra, however, outdueled the young future Ace and held the Redbirds to 0 runs on 4 hits and 7 ks. Junior, you are full of surprises, you know that? Just when we think you are about to get mashed, you throw a gem.
Jeffress proceeded to give up his first HR of the year, and then Hader got a bit shaky in the 9th, only to see an equally shaky Knebel take the count full with runners on 1st and 3rd to get the final strikeout. The Crew, on the other hand, finally got after the Cardinal bullpen and put up three runs to win the game (thank you Yelich, your home run was fantastic to watch over and over on replay.) And thank you Milwaukee, for beating those damn Cardinals and taking the series.
Up next, the White Sox – let’s review, shall we?
Expected Pitching Matchups
Lots of red for Chase tonight; it will be curious if he really can turn the season around, or if he really is just that Chase that was in Arizona all of those years. My guess is that Arizona part, but the dream is the former. The one I’m excited to watch this series is the Sox’s Covey; small data set, sure, but his numbers looks unreal. The Brewers usually struggle against guys they face for the first time; this series finale could see a similar result.
Chacin continues to surprise, as does Suter. The key for Milwaukee, Chicago White Sox fans (who happen to read this), is to see these guys get through 4 innings in order to get the MIL bullpen.
Bullpen Review
Updated MIL bullpen numbers are below. I added the Sox relievers too. Nothing overly excited for the Sox, and they look hittable.
Hitter Metrics
Anything in green above means the hitter is in the top 25% of all MLB hitter metrics. The Brewers are very solid against right handed hitters; against lefties, so-so.
The White Sox have the real deal in right handed mashers Abreu and Moncada, but not much else at this time. Anderson and Abreu crush lefties (or look out Brent Suter).
Team Defense
The Brewers are ranked #4 in all of baseball in terms of defense. The White Sox are reanked #25
Tonight’s Guess
I think tonight is going to be rough. We face a lefty in Santiago, and the ChiSox face a struggling Anderson. All things said, I think MIL has a 40% chance to win this evening. Lineup cards aren’t out yet, but Fangraphs have them at 50.2%. Vegas has MIL currently at -137 favorites with a 8.5 over/under. Go Crew!