MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:
Border Battle
The Brewers and Twins begin their 4-game season series tonight with the first of 2 games at Target Field…. the Twins will visit American Family Field for 2 games from 8/22-8/23….. the Brewers have won 4 of their last 5 meetings with the Twins, including taking 3 of 4 in 2022.
Field of Wiems
Joey Wiemer has reached safely in a career-best 12 consecutive games….. Wiemer is batting .341 (14-for-41) with 3 HR and 9 RBI during the streak.
Enough Is Enough
The Brewers tonight are looking to snap a 4-game losing streak…..Corbin Burnes is 13-6 with a 2.76 ERA in 35 career starts following a team loss (208.1ip, 64er)…..he has a 1.64 ERA (33ip, 6er) in 5 starts following a team loss this season, working at least 6.0 innings and allowing 3 earned runs or fewer in each of the outings.
All-Time ERA Leaders
Interleague Play – Min. 120 IP
Pitcher ERA
Mariano Rivera, NYY …………………….1.82
Corbin Burnes, MIL …………………….1.88
Clayton Kershaw, LAD…………………2.09
Devinly Body
Devin Williams has gone 10-for-10 in save opportunities…..he is unscored upon in 20 of his 21 outings, posting a 0.42 ERA…..opponents are batting just .110 (8-for-73, 1hr) and he has a 0.83 WHIP with 30 K in 21.2 innings….. Williams leads all qualified MLB relievers in ERA (0.42), opponent batting average (.110) and hits allowed per 9 innings (3.32).
Elvis Has Entered The Building
Elvis Peguero is unscored upon in 17 of his 19 appearances this season, including 9 consecutive scoreless outings (10.2ip) in which he has held opponents to a .139 batting average (5-for-36) with no extra-base hits.
TONIGHT’S GAME: Is game 1 of a 2-game trip to Minnesota…..following this series and an off day on Thursday, the team returns to American Family Field for a 6-game homestand from June 16-21 against Pittsburgh (3g) and Arizona (3g).
IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: RHP Jason Alexander (right rotator cuff), LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP Matt Bush (right rotator cuff), RHP Jake Cousins (right shoulder), LHP Eric Lauer (right shoulder), LHP Wade Miley (left lat), OF Garrett Mitchell (left shoulder), 1B Darin Ruf (right knee), LHP Bennett Sousa (left shoulder), OF Tyrone Taylor (right elbow), LHP Justin Wilson (left elbow), OF Jesse Winker (neck) and RHP Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) are on the injured list…..Alexander, Ashby, Mitchell, Ruf, Wilson and Woodruff are on the 60-day IL.
IN THE STANDINGS (75 days): The Brewers have spent the following number of days alone or tied at each position in the NL Central standings: FIRST: 49, SECOND: 24, THIRD: 2, FOURTH: 0, FIFTH: 0…..the team is currently in second place, trailing the first-place Pirates by 1.0 game.
SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 10-11-0 in series play
Game 1: 9-12, Game 2: 13-8, Game 3: 10-11, Game 4: 2-1
Sweep Wins (3): vs. NYM (3g, 4/3-4/5), at SEA (3g, 4/17-4/19), vs. KC (3g, 5/12-5/14)
Sweep Losses (2): at COL (3g, 5/2-5/4), vs. OAK (3g, 6/9-6/11)
AT HOME: The Brewers are 18-16 at home, going 6-5-0 in series play…..the team is on a current season-high 4-game home losing streak…..the Brewers went 46-35 at home last season, going 15-8-4 in series play.
ON THE ROAD: The Brewers are 16-16 on the road, going 4-6-0 in series play…..the team went 40-41 on the road last season, going 9-12-5 in series play.
LET’S GO TO THE VIDEO TAPE: The Brewers have made 14 replay challenges this season, going 6-8…..their last challenge (lost) came on 6/10 vs. Oakland as catcher’s interference called on Victor Caratini with Esteury Ruiz batting was confirmed.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: #39 – RHP CORBIN BURNES (13gs, 5-4, 3.36)
BURNES AT A GLANCE: Corbin Burnes, 28, is making his 14th start…..he last started last Wednesday vs. Baltimore in a 10-2 win (8ip, 2h, 0r, 0bb, 9k, 1wp, 96 pitches)…..he tossed a season-high 8.0 innings for the second time (also 4/11 at Arizona)…..the team is 7-6 in his starts…..he has 8 quality starts…..opponents are batting .199 (56-for-281, 10hr)…..Burnes was selected by Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of St. Mary’s (CA) College…..he is under club control through 2024.
LAST SEASON: Burnes went 12-8 with a 2.94 ERA in 33 starts last season, finishing seventh in NL Cy Young Award voting after winning the award in 2021…..Burnes was an All-Star for the second straight season and was named Brewers Most Valuable Pitcher for the second year in a row…..his career-high 243 strikeouts led the National League and ranked second in the majors behind the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole (257)…..he became the first pitcher in franchise history to lead his league in strikeouts…..he also ranked among the NL top five in starts (T1st, 33), AVG (2nd, .197), K/9IP (2nd, 10.83), H/9IP (2nd, 6.42), innings pitched (4th, 202.0), K/BB (4th, 4.76), quality starts (T4th, 21) and WHIP (5th, 0.97)…..the team went 20-13 in his starts.
CY BURNES: Burnes won the 2021 National League Cy Young Award after going 11-5 with a Major League-best 2.43 ERA in 28 starts…..he became the third pitcher in franchise history to win a Cy Young Award, joining Rollie Fingers (1981) and Pete Vuckovich (1982)…..he became the first pitcher in franchise history to lead his league in ERA.
CAREER: Is 40-23 with a 3.23 ERA in 148 games/87 starts (593.1ip, 213er)…..is in his sixth Major League season, all with the Brewers (2018-23)…..is 32-20 with a 2.99 ERA as a starter (511.1ip, 170er) and 8-3 with a 4.72 ERA in relief (82ip, 43er)…..Burnes is a two-time All-Star (2021-22) and was a 2021 All-MLB First Team selection.
CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 20-13 with a 3.44 ERA in 73 games/46 starts (314ip, 120er)…..is 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA in 7 starts this season (41.1ip, 15er).
CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 20-10 with a 3.00 ERA in 75 games/41 starts (279.1ip, 93er)…..is 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 6 starts this season (36.1ip, 14er).
CAREER vs. TWINS: Is 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 4 games/3 starts (18.1ip, 5er), including a 10-4 win last season on 7/27 in Milwaukee (6ip, 5h, 3r, 3er, 0bb, 11k, 1hr)…..he also produced no walks with 11 strikeouts in his previous start against the Twins on 4/3/21 in Milwaukee despite taking a 2-0 loss (6.1ip, 1h, 1r, 1er, 0bb, 11k, 1hr, 1hbp)…..his other 2 appearances against Minnesota came at Target Field in 2019 (relief) and 2020 (start).
MINNESOTA TWINS NOTES:
THE TWINS: Completed their six-game road-trip with a record of 2-4, going 0-3 at Tampa Bay and 2-1 at Toronto…this evening, the Twins will begin a 10-game homestand with two games against the Brewers tonight and tomorrow afternoon, four games against the Tigers from Thursday-Sunday and four games against the Red Sox (June 19-22)…the Twins have gone 18-14 at home and 15-19 on the road.
TWINS MISS OUT ON HAT TRICK IN TORONTO: The Twins lost to the Blue Jays on Sunday after- noon at Rogers Centre by a score of 7-6, failing to record their second sweep of the season… Louie Varland was the starter but did not factor into the decision, allowing four runs on six hits in 4.2 innings pitched…Emilio Pagán (3-1) was dealt the loss, allowing a three-run homer to Cavan Biggio in the eighth inning, trying to protect a 6-4 lead…the offense recorded 10 hits, three from Royce Lewis, who drove in two runs…Carlos Correa had two hits, both doubles, the 199th and 200th of his career…Donovan Solano went 1-for-2, walked a career-high-tying three times and hit his first home run of the season.
GALLANT RETURN: The Twins have returned outfielder/first baseman Joey Gallo from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 10-day Injured List…Gallo, who has missed the Twins’ last nine games with a left hamstring strain, played in three games on rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul, going 2-for-8 with two home runs, five RBI, two walks and two runs scored…prior to being placed on the IL, Gallo played in 46 games for the Twins, hitting .188 (26-for-138) with five doubles, one triple, 11 home runs, 23 RBI, 25 walks, 21 runs scored, a .321 on-base percentage, a .478 slugging percentage and a .799 OPS…to make room for Gallo on the 26-man roster, the Twins have optioned outfielder Kyle Garlick to Triple-A St. Paul…Garlick, who was recalled by the Twins on June 3, played in six games during his most recent stint with Minnesota, going 1-for-11 with five strikeouts.
Gallo has posted a 12.55 at-bat-per-home run ratio this season, the fourth-best in the AL (minimum of 150 plate appearances)…he also leads the club with 11 home runs and a .478 slugging percentage.
START ME UP: Twins starters have averaged 5.7 innings-per-outing, up from 4.8 in 2022… they have also struck out 363 hitters and are on-pace to fan 959 batters, which would shatter the club record of 870, done in 1967…below are Twins starting pitching ranks in the AL:
INNINGS ERA BAA BB/9.0 FIP WHIP K’s OPS
TOR – 373.1 TB – 3.08 TB – .220 SEA – 2.01 TB – 3.46 TB – 1.11 MIN – 391 TB – .638
TEX – 373.1 TEX – 3.40 MIN – .231 MIN – 2.36 MIN – 3.47 MIN – 1.13 CWS – 381 MIN – .660
MIN – 373.0 HOU – 3.41 NYY – .236 CLE – 2.56 SEA – 3.61 SEA – 1.15 TOR – 376 SEA – .682
HOU – 372.1 MIN – 3.55 TEX – .237 TEX – 2.60 TEX – 3.83 TEX – 1.17 HOU – 369 TEX – .683
CWS – 365.0 TOR – 3.95 CWS – .240 TB – 2.69 HOU – 3.97 NYY – 1.23 LAA – 354 HOU – .720
CC CREEPS: Carlos Correa has hit safely in each of his last four games, going 6-for-16 (.375) with two doubles, two home runs, five RBI and two walks in that span…since May 10, he has raised his batting average 32 points, from .185 to .217 in 24 games…below are his first 32 games and last 24 games (since May 10) by comparison:
AVG H 2B HR RBI BB K OBP SLG OPS OPS w/ RISP
FIRST 32 .185 23 5 5 15 13 30 .261 .363 .624 .499
LAST 24 .261 23 9 3 14 14 29 .363 .466 .829 .875
NATIONAL TREASURES: The Twins have gone 8-10 in Interleague Play this season, going 1-2 at Miami, 1-2 vs. Washington, 2-1 vs. San Diego, 2-1 vs. Chicago-NL, 1-2 vs. Los Angeles-NL and 1-2 vs. San Francisco…eight wins already matches their 2022 total…after this series, the Twins’ next NL opponent will be the Braves for three games at Truist Park from June 26-28.
This season the Twins are playing each of the 15 National League teams…Minnesota’s remaining 2023 Interleague home schedule includes Target Field visits from the Brewers this week, Diamondbacks (August 4-6), Pirates (August 18-20) and Mets (September 8-10)…the Twins will also play road games at the Braves (June 26-28), Cardinals (August 1-3), Phillies (August 11-13), Brewers (August 22-23), Reds (September 18-20) and Rockies (September 29-October 1).
BORDER BATTLE: The Twins are 240-231 all-time against the Brewers (since 1970) and are 67-57 against them in Interleague Play, since Milwaukee’s move to the NL in 1998…Twins are 11-8 in their last 19 against the Brewers…Twins are 6-3 at Target Field vs. the Brewers in their last nine.
Willi Castro is hitting .520 (13-for-25) with one double, two triples, five RBI and a 1.239 OPS in eight career games vs. the Brewers. AMax Kepler is hitting .345 (10-for-29) with three doubles, one triple, five RBI, three walks and a .923 OPS in his last eight games vs. the Brewers.
Christian Vázquez is hitting .444 (8-for-18) with three doubles, two RBI, three walks and a 1.135 OPS in five career games vs. the Brew Crew.
Twins radio stallion Cory Provus spent three seasons from 2009-11 with the Brewers, doing play-by-play with Hall of Famer Bob Uecker on WTMJ-AM and the Brewers Radio Network.
LAND OF 10,000 RAKES: The Twins have homered 85 times this season, tied for fourth most in the AL and tied for seventh most in baseball…Twins are 27-19 when they homer at least once in a game, 19-6 when they homer at least twice and 8-1 when homering at least thrice.
The Twins have homered in eight-straight Interleague games, totaling 18 homers in that span.
ROYCE MAKING NOISE: Royce Lewis has hits in seven of his last eight at-bats, including seven-straight singles from Friday to Sunday… he is now hitting .317 (13-for-41) with nine RBI and an .805 OPS in 10 games for the Twins this season.
Lewis is hitting .353 (6-for-17) against breaking pitches and .500 (3-for-6) against off-speed pitches.
I’LL TAKE OBP FOR 400, ALEX: Alex Kirilloff has reached base safely in 26 of his last 57 plate appearances since May 27, posting an on-base percentage of .456 in that span…since that date, he has 14 hits, 10 walks and two hit-by-pitch…in 32 games for the Twins, he has posted a .413 on-base percentage, which leads the AL among players with a minimum of 115 plate appearances.
THIEVERY CORPORATION: Twins have stolen 34 bases in 40 attempts this season, for a 85.0 success rate, second best in the AL and fourth best in baseball…since May 15, they have successfully stolen a club-record 24 consecutive bases, their last caught stealing being Ryan Jeffers on May 13 vs. Chicago-NL (Barnhart/Wesneski)…their previous successful stolen base streak was 21, from September 25, 2006-April 21, 2007 (Elias)…the longest streak in baseball this season is Tampa Bay’s streak of 35, which was snapped on Sunday afternoon.
BATS ON STRIKE: The Twins have struck out an MLB-most 678 times this season…when they strike out 10 times-or-fewer, they have a record of 23-13, compared to 10-20 when they strike out at least 11 times…they have struck out 536 times vs. right-handed pitching (1,759 at-bats) and 142 times vs. left-handed pitching (467 at-bats).
The Twins have a 29.1 swing and miss percentage this season, the highest in baseball after ranking 11th last season at 25.0%.
STARTING PITCHER – PABLO LóPEZ #49
2023: 3-3, 4.25 ERA CAREER: 31-34, 3.98 ERA
Making his 14th start and appearance and seventh home start of 2023…also his 108th career appearance (all starts) in his sixth major league season (Miami – 2018-22).
Facing Milwaukee for the sixth time in his career; is 1-1, 3.19 ERA (31.0 IP, 11 ER) with 11 walks and 33 strikeouts in five previous starts against the Brewers.
Acquired by the Twins from Miami on January 20, 2023, along with infielder Jose Salas and outfielder Byron Chourio, in exchange for infielder/outfielder Luis Arraez
LAST TIME OUT: Went 7.0 innings and allowed only one run but took a no-decision in the Twins’ 2-1 defeat against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on June 7…allowed five hits (1 HR), issued one walk and struck out six batters…pitched opposite Shawn Armstrong who fired 2.0 scoreless innings as an opener…allowed a solo home run to third baseman Isaac Paredes to lead off the second inning, then retired 17 of the final 21 batters he faced from the second through the seventh inning…was relieved by Brock Stewart to begin the eighth inning with Minnesota trailing 1-0; Twins tied the game on an RBI single from third baseman Royce Lewis in the top of the ninth inning, but Jhoan Duran allowed a walkoff solo home run to designated hitter Randy Arozarena in the bottom of the ninth.
Marked just the fourth time in his career that his team lost when he worked at least 7.0 innings and allowed one-or-fewer runs (9-4 team record in 13 career starts under those parameters).
Picked off shortstop Wander Franco in the third inning; was his third pickoff of the season (2 at Miami on April 5), tied with KC’s Taylor Clarke for the most in the American League this year.
Through 13 starts this season, López is among the American League leaders in several statistical categories, including strikeouts (92 – T-3rd), innings pitched (78.1 – 10th), pitches-per-inning (15.4 – 14th) and FIP (3.75 – 15th).
TWO STARTS AGO: Did not factor into the decision in the Twins’ 7-6 win over the Cleveland Guardians on June 1 at Target Field…opposed rookie Tanner Bibee, who also took a no-decision…pitched 5.2 innings, allowing a season-high-tying six runs and eight hits, with one walk and five strikeouts… retired the side in order in the first inning for the first time since Opening Day on March 30 at Kansas City…allowed one run in the second inning on an RBI single from rightfielder Will Brennan…allowed five runs on six singles and one walk in the top of the sixth inning…was relieved by Emilio Pagán with two outs in the sixth and Minnesota trailing 6-3…Twins overcame the three-run deficit and won on a walk-off sacrifice fly from leftfielder Willi Castro in the ninth inning.
His five runs allowed in the top of the sixth inning marked the most runs he has allowed in an inning since he allowed seven runs in the top of the fourth inning on September 10, 2022 vs. New York-NL.
His 76.1 strike percentage vs. Cleveland was the second-highest strike percentage of his career, trailing only his 78.3 strike percentage (83 pitches, 65 strikes) on July 11, 2021 vs. Atlanta.
LÓPEZ VS. MILWAUKEE: Facing the Brewers for the sixth time in his career tonight…in five previous starts vs. Milwaukee, all with Miami, he went 1-1, 3.19 ERA (31.0 IP, 11 ER) with 11 walks and 33 strikeouts; Marlins went 2-3 in those starts…went 0-0, 0.64 ERA (14.0 IP, 1 ER) with three walks and 18 strikeouts in two starts against the Brewers last season; set his career high with 11 strikeouts over 7.0 innings vs. Milwaukee on May 13, 2022 and tossed 7.0 scoreless innings at American Family Field on October 2, 2022…looking for his first win against the Brewers since June 4, 2019; pitched 6.0 shutout innings with three hits allowed, one walk and seven strikeouts in a 16-0 Marlins win in Milwaukee.
López has limited the 11 current Brewers hitters who have faced him previously to a .163 (7-for-43) batting average with 20 strikeouts.
HOME SWEET HOME: Making his seventh home start of 2023 to begin the Twins’ 10-game homestand… has gone 2-1 with a 6.11 ERA (35.1 IP, 24 ER), 12 walks and 42 strikeouts in his first six home outings…despite López having the third-highest home ERA among qualified pitchers in the American League, the Twins have gone 5-1 in his six home starts as the offense has provided him with an average of 6.11 runs of support at Target Field, the 12th-highest run support average at home in the AL (min. 5 home GS)…in seven road starts this year, he is 1-2 with a 2.72 ERA (43.0 IP, 13 ER), 10 walks and 50 strikeouts; Minnesota owns a 2-5 record in his seven starts away from Target Field in 2023, with López receiving only 1.67 runs of support on average.
In 56 career home starts, he is 16-16, 3.75 ERA (319.1 IP, 133 ER) with 91 walks and 310 strikeouts…is 15-18, 4.25 ERA (269.0 IP, 127 ER) with 73 walks and 271 strikeouts in 51 career road starts.
RIGHT ON: López has limited right-handed hitters to a .211 (35-for-166) batting average this season… his 59 strikeouts against righties are the fourth most in the American League this year, trailing only TB’s Shane McClanahan (79), HOU’s Framber Valdez (77) and TOR’s Kevin Gausman (70)…his .211 opponent batting average vs. righties this season ranks 11th in the AL (min. 10 GS)…left-handed hitters are batting at a .256 (32-for-125) clip against him in 2023…over his career, he has better numbers against right-handed hitters (.665 OPS) than left-handed hitters (.709 OPS).
PITCH BREAKDOWN: Used a five-pitch mix in his first 13 starts this season, according to Baseball Savant…has primarily used his sweeper and sinker against right-handed hitters, favoring his changeup and curveball against left-handed hitters…threw his first sinker of the season to a lefthanded hitter in his last start on June 7 at Tampa Bay, as shortstop Wander Franco grounded into a fielder’s choice on the pitch; also allowed his first home run on a sinker this year in his last outing (Isaac Paredes, 2nd inning)…here is a look at his 2023 arsenal:
PITCH (AVG. MPH) PCT. (# OF PITCHES, VS. RHB/LHB) RESULTS
4-Seam Fastball (94.9)……………..34.8% (421 pitches, 205/216)….. .284 (25-for-88), 4 2B, 6 HR, 27 K Sweeper (84.3)…………………………22.7% (275 pitches, 235/40) .186 (11-for-59), 1 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 25 K Changeup (88.4)……………………..21.1% (255 pitches, 103/152) … .153 (11-for-72), 1 2B, 1 HR, 23 K Sinker (94.6) …………………………….11.6% (140 pitches, 139/1) … .263 (10-for-38), 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 K Curveball (82.0)…………………………9.8% (118 pitches, 20/98) .. .294 (10-for-34), 1 3B, 1 HR, 14 K
Lopez’s changeup has accumulated a run value of -7 this year, tied with teammate Jovani Moran for the fifth-best run value on a changeup in baseball, according to Baseball Savant.
In his first 13 starts this year, López has an average fastball velocity of 94.8 mph, a 2.1 mph increase from last season and the largest year-to-year jump of his career.
CUTTING TO THE CHASE: Through 13 starts, López has a career-high 35.1 chase percentage, placing him in the 95th percentile in all of baseball, according to Baseball Savant…his chase rate ranks second on the Twins staff (Joe Ryan – 36.5) and 19th in the majors…also has a career-best 52.4 percent swing rate and 29.7 percent whiff rate in 2023.
INTERLEAGUE NUMBERS: In 17 career Interleague appearances (all starts), López is 4-6, 3.45 ERA (94.0 IP, 36 ER) with 23 walks and 103 strikeouts…13 of those starts were against American League opponents with Miami from 2018-22, and he has made four starts vs. National League teams as a Twin this year (April 5 at Miami, April 22 vs. Washington, May 10 vs. San Diego and May 15 at Los Angeles-NL)…in his four Interleague starts this season, López is 0-1, 4.91 ERA (22.0 IP, 12 ER) with seven walks and 26 strikeouts…seeking his first Interleague win since August 23, 2022 at Oakland (6.0 IP, 0 R/ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K).
