The Milwaukee Brewers will be looking for playoff-level consistency from veteran right-hander Dustin May when they face the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
May (7-9, 4.67 ERA), acquired from the Cardinals along with reliever JoJo Romero at the trade deadline, will be opposed by rookie left-hander Quinn Mathews (2-3, 3.65).
Milwaukee (101-59) recorded an 8-4 victory over St. Louis (77-83) on Friday in the opener of the three-game series. Brice Turang’s two-run single keyed a four-run eighth inning.
After being held to one hit through six innings by starter Robert Gasser, Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson each homered off Bryse Wilson in a three-run seventh.
Walker’s homer was his 29th of the season and his first since Sept. 1. Burleson’s two-run pinch-hit blast was his 25th of the season.
The Brewers, who have won four straight National League Central titles, have earned a first-round bye and clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“They play the game well, they play the game hard,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said of the Brewers after Friday’s game. “They continually add pressure based on the type of players they have, so they play to their strength there. And then they’ve got some good arms.”
May is 2-2 with a 5.61 ERA in nine starts with Milwaukee, lasting fewer than 4 1/3 innings in six of those starts.
He is 1-2 with a 7.84 ERA over his last seven starts, allowing 18 earned runs in 20 2/3 innings, including four homers.
May pitched just two innings in his last start, allowing two runs in two innings in a 36-pitch outing without a decision in a 6-4 loss at Philadelphia.
“I’m just gonna do what I’m told at this point,” May said. “I don’t feel like I’ve pitched my way into having a say in anything. I’m just going to do what they tell me.”
May is 1-0 with a 2.53 ERA in two career starts against St. Louis, both when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Turang, whose three RBIs gave him 97 on the season, is hitting .368 (28-for-76) with three homers, eight doubles and 19 RBIs in 22 games in September after hitting .175 in August.
Mathews has followed up a 1-2 record with a 5.03 ERA in four starts in August by going 1-1 with a 2.55 ERA in four starts this month.
In his last start, Mathews allowed three runs on seven hits in seven innings in an efficient 96-pitch outing but did not get the decision in a 5-3 win over Washington.
Brewers third baseman Joey Ortiz left Friday’s game in the eighth inning and appeared to be limping when he entered the dugout. Murphy said afterward that Ortiz has been dealing with a bruised knee and might have aggravated it.
Prior to Friday’s game, the Brewers placed first baseman Andrew Vaughn on the 10-day injured list due to illness, retroactive to Tuesday. Outfielder Brandon Lockridge was recalled from Triple-A Nashville to replace Vaughn, who is hitting .306 with six homers and 43 RBIs in 104 games.
–Field Level Media
