The Milwaukee Brewers have made themselves at home at Great American Ball Park this season.
The Brewers will look to record their fifth win in as many games in Cincinnati this season on Saturday when they play the second contest of their three-game series versus the Reds. Milwaukee is 7-1 on the season against the Reds.
Milwaukee benefited from a costly error by shortstop Elly De La Cruz that helped ignite a five-run fifth inning in a 10-7 victory in the series opener on Friday. De La Cruz misplayed a possible double play, leading to bases loaded for the Brewers with no outs.
Brice Turang was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and rookie Cooper Pratt ripped a bases-clearing triple and scored on a wild pitch to send the Brewers (88-54) to the win against the Reds (67-74).
Turang went 3-for-4 with three RBIs on Friday after going 3-for-24 with 11 strikeouts in his previous six games.
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy was asked if the struggling second baseman is being adversely affected by his knee injury.
“He’s affected, but it all comes down (to) guys go through ups and downs every season,” Murphy said. “Remember two weeks ago when we were panicked about (Christian) Yelich?”
Yelich hit only .229 in August but perhaps has righted the ship since the calendar flipped to September, going 5-for-15 with one homer, two RBIs and five runs during his four-game hitting streak.
Cincinnati manager Terry Francona doesn’t seem as concerned about facing Yelich or Turang as he does his team’s defense, namely what happened on De La Cruz’s error.
“I went back and looked at it a couple times,” Francona said. “It went right in between (base runner William) Contreras’ legs. I don’t know if it snuck up on Elly after that. It was unfortunate.”
The loss spoiled a banner day for the Venezuela-born Eugenio Suarez, who belted a three-run homer in his return following a two-game absence due to taking the U.S. naturalization test in Miami.
“It’s very, very cool,” Francona said of Suarez becoming a U.S. citizen. “He was excited and he should be. It’s very neat.”
Suarez will look for a repeat performance against Milwaukee right-hander Dustin May (6-9, 4.69 ERA), who will look to record his first win in nearly one full month on Saturday. Acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline, May won his first start with the Brewers on Aug. 6, 5-2 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
May fell to 0-2 in his past four starts after allowing four runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 7-4 setback to the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
He pitched well in his lone career encounter versus Cincinnati on July 24 as a member of the Cardinals. He took a no-decision despite permitting one run on seven hits in six innings of the 4-2 loss.
Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott (6-10, 4.49) will provide the opposition on Saturday.
Abbott lost his third straight start last Saturday, tying season highs in runs (seven) and hits (eight) allowed in a 17-5 shellacking by the Chicago Cubs. He gave up three homers in his three innings of work.
He received a no-decision in his lone appearance versus Milwaukee this season, allowing two runs on five hits — albeit with five walks — in five innings in a 4-2 loss.
All told, Abbott is 3-4 with a 3.73 ERA in nine career appearances (all starts) against the Brewers.
–Field Level Media
