After being blanked in the series opener, the visiting Miami Marlins don’t get an easier pitching matchup when they oppose the Milwaukee Brewers again on Tuesday.
Right-hander Freddy Peralta (11-8, 3.89 ERA), who has not lost since July 21, starts for Milwaukee, while right-hander JT Chargois (1-0, 3.63) gets the nod in a bullpen game for the Marlins.
Milwaukee took the opener 12-0 on Monday night behind Brandon Woodruff’s dominating six-hitter, the first shutout of his career.
The Brewers (80-63) maintained a three-game lead in the National League Central over the second-place Chicago Cubs (78-67), who rallied to beat the Colorado Rockies 5-4 on Monday. Miami (74-70) dropped 1 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks (76-69) for the final NL wild-card spot.
Willy Adames drove in four runs with a triple and two doubles to pace Milwaukee’s 17-hit attack on Monday.
“It was just a good night for us offensively in terms of appropriate patience, aggressiveness in the right spots, and we did a nice job of getting pitches to hit,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.
Tyrone Taylor also had three hits for the Brewers. Taylor is hitting .300 (9-for-30) with two doubles, one homer, six RBIs and seven runs in eight games this month.
Milwaukee improved to 67-15 when scoring four or more runs, compared with 13-48 when scoring three or fewer.
Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo, who had allowed just two runs over 18 innings in his three previous starts, was tagged for six runs on 10 hits in five innings on Monday.
“It’s baseball. Obviously, it wasn’t our cleanest game,” Miami designated hitter Josh Bell said. “But I’m pumped to watch (Luzardo) bounce back next start, and I’m pumped to watch the lineup (Tuesday). Obviously, we’re going to score runs this series, so hopeful they come in bunches (Tuesday).”
Peralta is 5-0 with a 2.09 ERA in his last eight starts. In his latest outing, he allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings but did not get the decision in the Brewers’ 5-4 loss at Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
“I did not have my best command today,” Peralta said after that contest. “It was on me. It wasn’t because they were taking or doing something different. It was because I wasn’t locating really good.”
Peralta has allowed a career-high 22 homers in a career-high 150 1/3 innings, but he has been taken deep just six times since the All-Star break.
Peralta is 2-1 with a 5.00 ERA in six career appearances, including three starts, against the Marlins.
Chargois, who has made 35 relief appearances this year, will be making just his third start, all since Aug. 27. He pitched one scoreless inning in each of his previous two starts.
“At this point of the season, every loss or every win counts, and every loss hurts,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said. “And you’ve got to figure out a way to move on. We have 16 games in a row, we weren’t going to win every one of them. We got our butt kicked today. …
“We’ve been a pretty resilient group the whole year, and looking forward to (Tuesday) already.”
–Field Level Media
