Series Preview: Atlanta Braves take on slumping Milwaukee Brewers
The Atlanta Braves continue their six-game road trip Monday night as they head to Miller Park for a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers.
After sweeping the San Diego Padres over the weekend — a place where the Atlanta Braves have not faired too well in recent seasons — it’s time to take on the struggling Milwaukee Brewers in the launch pad that is Miller Park.
The Brewers are just 3-7 in their last 10 games but have played much better at home (28-20) than on the road (20-26).
From an offensive standpoint, Milwaukee ranks 17th in runs scored, third in home runs, and 10th in OPS.
The starting rotation has been a struggle as they have the 19th-best earned run average and sixth-worst batting average against.
It’s no wonder they are being rumored to be interested in the same starting pitchers available as the Atlanta Braves are.
Thanks to Josh Hader, the bullpen has been better than the starting pitchers, as the relievers have the sixth best opponents batting average against.
The Atlanta Braves took two-of-three from the Brewers in May and it was the Freddie Freeman home run show in all three games, as he hit one in each contest, including a walk-off blast off Hader in the second game.
Max Fried, who will start the first game of this series, was really impressive against the Brew Crew on May 17th, throwing six innings of shutout ball, while giving up only two hits.
Over the past five seasons, the Braves are 19-15 against the Brewers and 10 of those wins came in 2014 and 2015.
The pitching matchups look relatively favorable for the Braves who need to win just one game in the series for a winning road trip.
With the Nationals playing the lowly Orioles for two games starting Tuesday, winning two-of-three would be really nice ahead of the big four-game showdown this weekend in Atlanta.