The Milwaukee Brewers will turn to rookie Shane Drohan as they look to clinch the four-game series and continue their recent dominance of the visiting Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday.
Drohan (3-2, 3.12 ERA) will be opposed by Andrew Abbott (5-4, 3.90 ERA) in a matchup of left-handers.
Jake Bauers and Jackson Chourio homered and the Brewers bunched six singles for four runs in the fourth inning en route to a 7-2 victory Tuesday night, improving to 5-0 this season against the Reds. Bauers and Sal Frelick had three hits apiece in a 14-hit attack.
Sal Stewart clubbed his team-leading 16th home run for Cincinnati, second-most by any Reds rookie before the All-Star break behind only Frank Robinson’s 18 homers in 1956.
The NL Central-leading Brewers are 50-19 in their last 69 games against Cincinnati. Despite the recent one-sided results, Cincinnati manager Terry Francona did not agree when asked if it was a case of one team having another team’s number.
“I don’t ever feel that way,” Francona said after Tuesday’s game. “I remember people saying that in high school. I don’t feel like that. They played better than us.”
Drohan will be making his sixth consecutive start after joining the rotation. He is 1-2 with a 4.28 ERA as a starter and 2-0 with a 1.82 ERA out of the bullpen.
Drohan did not get a decision in his last start, allowing five hits over 4 1/3 scoreless innings in a 6-5 win at Cincinnati on June 24, but needed 98 pitches to record 13 outs.
“It could have been a lot different if I did what I was supposed to do and go deeper into the game,” Drohan said afterward. “Credit to the ‘pen for picking me up.”
Chourio hit .319 in 27 games in June with 10 homers, seven doubles and 25 RBI.
Frelick had his first three-hit game since June 29 of last season to extend his hitting streak to six games. Frelick hit .348 (24-for-69) in June with eight doubles and 13 RBI, raising his average from .214 at the end of May to .252.
“He’s locked in,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after Tuesday’s game. “He’s made a personal decision, ‘I’m going to play every pitch. I’m going to be locked in every pitch, I’m not going to worry about what my numbers say.”
Abbott was 1-1 with a 3.62 ERA in five starts in June after going 3-1 with a 1.61 ERA in five starts in May.
He did not get a decision in his last start, allowing four runs, three earned, on three homers in 5 1/3 innings in a 6-4 victory in Pittsburgh. Abbott has given up 15 homers in 90 innings.
Abbott is 3-4 with a 3.74 ERA in eight career starts vs. Milwaukee, including 2-2 with a 5.23 in four games at American Family Field.
–Field Level Media
