Not much has gone wrong for the Milwaukee Brewers this season, but manager Pat Murphy does have at least one concern as they open a five-game series against the host St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.
After his team’s 3-2 road victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix, Murphy lamented that starter Brandon Sproat lasted just four innings. Milwaukee needed five relievers to finish out the game.
“He did battle, but we’re not here for triers,” said Murphy, whose team has won 10 of its last 14 games. “You’ve got to get it done. We got to save our pen today… We’ll take the win, but we’re depleted going into tomorrow.”
Sproat actually had the longest outing of the three Brewers starters in Phoenix. Brandon Woodruff pitched just 3 2/3 innings Saturday before leaving with an injury, and Kyle Harrison exited after 2 2/3 innings Friday.
Starter longevity is not a new issue for Milwaukee. The Brewers’ rotation has logged 441 2/3 innings this season, the eighth-fewest in the majors.
Keeping relievers in the bullpen Monday will be the job for Shane Drohan (3-2, 3.12 ERA). The rookie left-hander, who pitched two innings of scoreless relief to help the Brewers beat the Cardinals 2-1 on May 27, will make his eighth start of the season. He’s also looking for his first victory in nearly one month.
Offensively, Jackson Chourio has been one of the Brewers’ better hitters over the past week. After his 2-for-4 effort Sunday, the outfielder has hit in six straight games.
Chourio has fared well versus St. Louis, batting .339 (38-for-112) with five home runs and 21 RBIs.
The Cardinals missed out on a three-game sweep Sunday, falling 6-4 in Chicago to the Cubs. Still, they return to St. Louis having won five of their last seven games.
Dustin May (5-6, 4.80) heads to the mound for the Cardinals a day sooner than expected. The veteran right-hander recorded just two outs in his last start in Atlanta, allowing five runs before exiting after absorbing a hard-hit ball to his right ankle.
May tested the ankle over the weekend, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and asked to go Monday in order to give Michael McGreevy an extra day of rest and pitch in one of the two games on Tuesday.
“There’s no way around it, but in a perfect world, you give McGreevy an extra day based on him already doing several (five-day turns),” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told the Post-Dispatch before Sunday’s game. “… (May) asked to push McGreevy back in order to set everybody else up.”
On May 27 in Milwaukee, May pitched into the eighth inning, but gave up two runs (one earned) without getting an out in that frame as the Brewers eked out a 2-1 win. He’s 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA in two career starts against the Brewers.
Jordan Walker, who leads the National League with 67 RBIs, has a five-game hitting streak and has hit safely in nine of his last 10 contests. The All-Star is enjoying a breakout season with 20 home runs, but he only has one homer and four RBIs in 29 games against Milwaukee.
–Field Level Media
