The Milwaukee Brewers look to inch closer to the first 100-win season in franchise history Tuesday when they visit the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a three-game set.
Milwaukee (98-58) is fresh off a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles, capped by Sunday’s 3-0 victory that broke a team record for single-season wins with six games remaining. The Brewers sit two games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the majors.
“It means a lot,” said Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, who logged the first three innings Sunday in an intentionally shortened outing. “It’s always a big deal to set a new franchise record. Hopefully there’s a few more, and we get to a little bigger number.”
Also on Sunday, Jackson Chourio became the first player in major league history to notch three seasons of 20 homers and 20 steals before his 23rd birthday.
Milwaukee needs one win — or one loss by the Atlanta Braces — to clinch a first-round playoff bye.
“I think it’s super important,” Chourio said of adding to the team’s win total. “We have an incredible group here, a special group. It just makes me really happy to be here and be a part of it. I’m proud of all the guys.”
Meanwhile, Philadelphia (86-70) is in good shape to make the postseason despite losing two of three to the New York Mets over the weekend. The Phillies have a magic number of three to clinch a wild-card berth, as their hopes of winning the National League East ended when the Braves clinched on Sunday.
Philadelphia enters Tuesday’s action a game behind the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres in the wild-card race. The top wild-card squad will host the runner-up in a three-game set next week.
“I’d love to have home-field advantage. Everybody wants home-field advantage,” team president Dave Dombrowski said of the wild-card round. “But playing on the road with our club doesn’t really bother me.”
Philadelphia will give the ball to Zack Wheeler (13-5, 2.99 ERA), who has been terrific over his last four starts. He has given up only three runs in 26 innings in that stretch, good for a 1.04 ERA. In his most recent outing, Wheeler blanked the Washington Nationals over seven innings in a 3-0 triumph.
“This time of the season is cool. It’s special,” he said. “This is where you want to be, and these games really, really matter. It’s fun competing in these types of games, these atmospheres. Getting that close to the finish line, you gotta really bear down, and I think everybody knows that.”
Wheeler is 5-2 with a 2.41 ERA in 11 lifetime starts against the Brewers. He hasn’t faced them this season.
Milwaukee will give the nod to Dustin May (7-9, 4.61), who is 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA in eight starts since joining the Brewers. He didn’t make it out of the third inning in his last outing, yielding three runs in 2 1/3 frames against the Orioles on Friday.
He threw 70 pitches in that contest but will be back on three days’ rest to face the Phillies, whom he has never faced despite spending his entire major league career in the National League.
“I’d like to say so,” May said after his start against Baltimore when asked if he feels like he’s close to being himself. “I feel like the stuff’s coming out good. I’m just not closing the door. … Gotta figure out how to get guys out after two strikes.”
–Field Level Media
