The Milwaukee Brewers open a three-game series against the visiting Miami Marlins on Friday after a 4-1 road trip out of the All-Star break.
The Brewers, however, lost more during that five-game stretch than their record indicates.
All-Star Christian Yelich is out indefinitely after lower-back inflammation sent the 32-year-old to the 10-day injured list on Wednesday.
Yelich is hitting .315 with an on-base percentage of .406 in 73 games this season.
“It’s a huge loss,” first-year Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. ” … Whatever number of games we lose him for, it’s serious.”
Exactly how long the Brewers — who lead the second-place St. Louis Cardinals by six games in the NL Central — will have to manage without Yelich remains unclear.
Yelich was scheduled to meet with a spine specialist on Thursday. Season-ending surgery is possible.
“Everybody plays through stuff, but sometimes you just can’t,” Yelich said. “That’s kind of where we’re at at this point. Your body won’t cooperate with you.”
Jackson Chourio has started the past nine games in left field for Milwaukee. The 20-year-old rookie leads the Brewers with nine hits since the All-Star break, but Milwaukee will struggle to fill the void left by Yelich, a three-time All-Star, two-time batting champion and former MVP.
“For what Yeli does for this lineup and this clubhouse, I don’t know (that) there’s too many players who can replace him,” Murphy said. “I mean that. He’s got a special niche here with us.”
The Brewers return home to face a pesky Miami squad seeking its second straight series win against a first-place team.
The Marlins, who have the NL’s worst record at 37-66, nearly rallied to complete a three-game home sweep of the American East-leading Baltimore Orioles on Thursday before falling 7-6 in 10 innings.
Miami chipped away at a 6-0 deficit and scored twice in the eighth inning and three times in the ninth to force extra innings.
“(That) says a lot about the fight in our clubhouse,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said.
Josh Bell went deep in each of the final two series games. Center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. boosted his trade stock by driving in five runs throughout the series and making a pair of diving catches on Thursday.
“It shows how good he can be and will be,” Schumaker said of Chisholm. ” … If he’s not doing great at the plate, then he takes over either on the bases or in the outfield. He can win and help you win in so many different ways.”
Miami left-hander Trevor Rogers (1-9, 4.59 ERA) will face Milwaukee right-hander Freddy Peralta (6-5, 3.88) on Friday.
Rogers, 26, has not pitched deep enough in any of his four outings this month to log a quality start, but his 3.38 ERA in July is so far his lowest in any month this season.
He limited the visiting New York Mets to two runs (one earned) on five hits over 4 2/3 innings in a no-decision on Sunday. He walked two and fanned five in the Marlins’ 4-2 win.
Peralta posted the best of his three starts this month last Saturday, allowing two hits over six shutout innings against the Minnesota Twins. He walked two and struck out eight in the Brewers’ 8-4 road win in 12 innings.
Rogers, a five-year veteran, is 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA over four career starts against Milwaukee.
Peralta, 28, is 3-3 with a 4.19 ERA in nine appearances (six starts) against Miami over his seven-year career.
On Thursday, the Marlins acquired prospects Deyvison De Los Santos and Andrew Pintar from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for left-hander A.J. Puk. Infielder De Los Santos and outfielder Pintar were rated as the sixth and 17th-best prospects in the Diamondbacks system, per Baseball America.
–Field Level Media
