After snapping a four-game losing streak, the Milwaukee Brewers will turn to right-hander Chad Patrick against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday in the opener of the three-game series.
Arizona has not officially named a starter, but veteran right-hander Merrill Kelly (1-1, 9.31 ERA) is likely to make his third start since coming off the injured list against Patrick (1-1, 2.35 ERA).
Both Milwaukee and Arizona were idle Monday.
The Brewers avoided a sweep with a 5-0 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. Kyle Harrison allowed one hit over six innings with a career-high 12 strikeouts for Milwaukee.
Arizona rallied past San Diego 12-7 in Mexico City on Sunday with six runs in the seventh and four in the eighth. Tim Tawa ignited the seventh-inning rally with his first career grand slam.
Ildemaro Vargas had a homer, triple and double with four RBIs to extend his major league-leading hitting streak to 20 games this season, and 23 dating back to last year. It is the second-longest overall streak since the 25-gamer by Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds from June 1-29, 2024.
Catcher Adrian Del Castillo left in the third inning Sunday with a left ring finger dislocation after a foul tip off his glove.
“We’re going to continue to evaluate him through the course of the next couple of days,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said following Sunday’s game. “What does it mean for his playing time? What does it mean for potential IL? Right now, I don’t know.”
Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo left Saturday’s game with a left ankle sprain and is listed as day-to-day.
The 37-year-old Kelly began the season on the IL with a left intercostal nerve irritation, which caused tightness in his back. After an effective first start, Kelly was rocked his last time out for eight runs in 4 1/3 innings in an 11-5 loss to the White Sox, giving up three consecutive solo homers in the second inning.
Kelly is 5-2 with a 2.95 ERA in 10 careers starts vs. Milwaukee.
Patrick followed an opener in his last appearance and took the loss in a 5-2 defeat at Detroit, allowing four runs on six hits in four innings of relief. Prior to that, he allowed just one run in 14 2/3 innings in his three previous appearances.
“Obviously, there’s some back and forth in the head wanting to think of it as a long reliever role instead of the starting role. It kind of just plays some games a little bit with you,” Patrick said after the loss. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. You’ve still got to do it.”
Patrick has only faced the Diamondbacks once, allowing five hits over 4 1/3 scoreless innings, but he did not get the decision in a 5-4 loss last season.
The Brewers have lacked power with Jackson Chourio, Andrew Vaughn and Christian Yelich on the injured list.
The Brewers have not had a home run in seven consecutive games, their most since a franchise-record 13 straight games in 1999. Milwaukee has one home run in its last 11 games and is tied for last in the majors with 19 homers.
Jake Bauers, tied for the team lead with five homers, doubled twice Sunday to extend his hitting streak to five games, hitting .381 over that span.
–Field Level Media
