MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:
Today’s Transactions
RHP Matt Bush was reinstated from the 15-day injured list, where he was placed on April 24 with right rotator cuff tendinitis…..RHP Trevor Megill was optioned to Triple-A Nashville yesterday.
Road Work Ahead
The Brewers open up a 10-game road trip tonight during which they visit Cleveland (3g), New York-NL (4g) and Pittsburgh (3g)…..this matches the team’s longest road trip of the 2023 season…..the Brewers went 7-3 on their last 10-game trip to Arizona (1-2), San Diego (3-1) and Seattle (3-0) from April 10-19.
Hot in Cleveland
Wade Miley is starting against the Guardians for the first time since throwing a no-hitter with the Reds on 5/7/21 at Progressive Field…..he earned a 3-0 win (9ip, 1bb, 8k)….. on Sunday, Corbin Burnes will start against the Guardians for the first time since he was part of a combined no-hitter with Josh Hader in a 3-0 win on 9/11/21 in Cleveland (8ip, 1bb, 14k).
Standing O
This series in Cleveland marks the first games for Owen Miller against his former team…..Miller was traded by Cleveland to Milwaukee this past December 14 for cash…..Miller played in 190 games over two seasons with the Guardians from 2021-22.
Born Again Christian
Since May 3, Christian Yelich has hit .297 (46-for-155) with 6 HR and 21 RBI in 43 games while producing a .391 OBP/.490 SLG/.881 OPS).
Catching On
William Contreras in his last 10 games has batted .294 (10-for-34) with 1 HR and 5 RBI…..Victor Caratini has batted .450 (9-for-20) with 1 HR and 3 RBI over his last 7 games.
It’s Milner Time!
Hoby Milner is unscored upon in each of his last 12 appearances (10.2ip) to lower his ERA from 4.50 to 2.83.
Four Goodness Sake!
The Brewers are a Major League-best 34-6 (.850) when scoring at least 4 runs in a game.
One and Done
The Brewers are 11-4 (.733) in 1-run games…..the Marlins (18-5, .783) are the only MLB team with a better mark.
TONIGHT’S GAME: Is game 1 of a 10-game trip to Cleveland (3g), New York-NL (4g) and Pittsburgh (3g)…..the Brewers are coming off a 4-2 homestand against Pittsburgh (3-0) and Arizona (1-2)…..following this trip, the team returns to American Family Field for a 7-game homestand against Chicago-NL (4g) and Cincinnati (3g) leading into the All-Star break.
IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: RHP Jason Alexander (right rotator cuff), LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP Jake Cousins (right shoulder), 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) and RHP Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) are on the injured list…..Alexander, Ashby, Mitchell, Ruf, Wilson and Woodruff are on the 60-day injured list.
SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 11-13-0 in series play.
Game 1: 10-14, Game 2: 15-9, Game 3: 11-12, Game 4: 2-1
Sweep Wins (4): vs. NYM (3g, 4/3-4/5), at SEA (3g, 4/17-4/19), vs. KC (3g, 5/12-5/14), vs. PIT (3g, 6/16-6/18)
Sweep Losses (3): at COL (3g, 5/2-5/4), vs. OAK (3g, 6/9-6/11), at MIN (2g, 6/13-6/14)
AT HOME: The Brewers are 22-18 at home, going 7-6-0 in series play…..the Brewers went 46-35 at home last season, going 15-8-4 in series play.
ON THE ROAD: The Brewers are 16-18 on the road, going 4-7-0 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 15 replay challenges this season, going 7-8…..their last challenge (won) came on 6/14 at Minnesota as a safe call at second base involving Joey Gallo in the third inning was overturned.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: #20 – LHP WADE MILEY (9gs, 4-2, 3.28)
MILEY AT A GLANCE: Wade Miley, 36, is making his 10th start of the season…..he last started last Saturday vs. Pittsburgh in a 5-0 win (5ip, 2h, 0r, 2bb, 4k, 77 pitches)….. the team is 6-3 in his starts…..he has made 4 quality starts…..opponents are batting .227 (40-for-176, 6hr)…..he was on the 15-day injured list from 5/17-6/16 with a left lat strain…..Miley signed as a free agent with Milwaukee on January 9…..he is signed through the 2023 season with a mutual option for 2024.
WELCOME BACK!: Miley returned to Milwaukee, where he pitched in 2018 for the National League Central champions and went 5-2 with a 2.57 ERA in 16 starts…..he went on to make 4 starts during the postseason, posting a 1.23 ERA (14.2ip, 2er), as the team went on to advance to the seventh game of the NLCS against Los Angeles.
LAST SEASON: Miley went 2-2 with a 3.16 ERA in 9 games/8 starts with Chicago-NL last season…..he missed most of the season while spending time on the injured list on three occasions: 4/7-5/9 (left elbow inflammation), 5/29-6/9 (left shoulder strain) and 6/11-9/5 (left shoulder strain).
CAREER: Is 103-96 with a 4.10 ERA in 301 games/294 starts (1664.2ip, 759er)…..is in his 13th Major League season with Arizona (2011-14), Boston (2015), Seattle (2016), Baltimore (2016-17), Milwaukee (2018, ‘23), Houston (2019), Cincinnati (2020-21) and Chicago-NL (2022)…..was an All-Star with the Diamondbacks in 2012…..he threw a no-hitter with the Reds on 5/7/21 at Cleveland…..Miley was selected by Arizona in the supplemental first round (43rd overall) of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Southeastern Louisiana University.
CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 7-3 with a 3.90 ERA in 17 starts (80.2ip, 35er)…..is 3-1 with a 3.33 ERA in 5 starts this season (27ip, 10er).
CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 49-51 with a 3.99 ERA in 159 games/157 starts (883ip, 391er)…..is 1-1 with a 3.20 ERA in 4 starts this season (19.2ip, 7er).
CAREER vs. GUARDIANS: Is 2-4 with a 3.97 ERA in 9 starts (45.1ip, 20er), including 1-2 with a 3.44 ERA in 3 starts at Progressive Field (18.1ip, 7er)…..Miley threw a no-hitter with the Reds in his last outing against the Guardians way back when they were called the Indians on 5/7/21 in Cleveland…..he earned a 3-0 win (9ip, 1bb, 8k).
CLEVELAND GUARDIANS NOTES:
GUARDS WIN 4TH STRAIGHT, COMPLETE SWEEP
The Cleveland Guardians reeled off their fourth consecutive victory on Thursday afternoon to match the club’s season-high (March 31-April 3), taking the finale of a 3-game set from the Oakland Athletics by a 6-1 final at Progressive Field…marked the club’s first outright series sweep of 2023 and eighth consecutive win in a series finale…club is 3-0 to begin a 6-game homestand against Oakland & Milwaukee (3 games)…Guards are now 5-2-1 over their last 8 series.
JOSH BELL collected his 500th career RBI in majestic fashion, erasing Oakland’s 1-0 lead in the 5th with a 430-foot solo blast off the facade of the catwalk high above the left field Home Run Porch…ANDRÉS GIMÉNEZ followed with a single and was later plated by MYLES STRAW’s 2-out RBI-triple, though it would prove to be the only offensive noise allowed by A’s southpaw JP Sears across 7.0 effective frames (7.0IP, 4H, 2R-ER, BB, 8SO, HR, 106 pitches)…holding onto a 2-1 lead, the Guardians broke out for 4 runs in the 8th against reliever Yacksel Rios, leveraging 2 singles, 4 walks – a pair of those coming with the bases loaded – and 2 run-scoring wild pitches to build a commanding lead…LOGAN ALLEN held Oakland scoreless on just a pair of singles, but exited prior to the start of the 5th due to an elevated pitch count (4.0IP, 2H, 0R, 3BB, 5SO, 89 pitches)…Oakland’s lone run came on a sac fly by Aledmys Diaz in the 5th.
Cleveland (36-38) sits in 2nd place in AL Central standings, just 1.0 game behind 1st-place Minnesota (38-38) & 3.5 games ahead of 3rd-place Detroit (-4.5G, 32-41)…Guardians have won 4 straight, 11 of 17 and 14 of last 23, though have also dropped 32 of last 59 overall since starting the year 9-6.
JUST TWO TEAMS THAT LOVE A GOOD IPA
The Cleveland Guardians, coming off of their first sweep of the season and winners of 4 straight, look to extend their current win streak to a season-long 5 games (current win streak high: 4G, 2x) against the Milwaukee Brewers, who are in town for a 3-game set this weekend…marks the Brew Crew’s first time at Progressive Field since sweeping the Guards from September 10-12, 2021… Milwaukee has won 4 of the last 6 contests against Cleveland dating back to the start of 2020…during the Terry Francona era (since 2013), the Guards are 8-6 against the Brewers and 6-4 at Progressive Field…Cleveland has the slight edge all-time, owning a 110-106 record since 1969 when the two clubs first met.
Losers of 4 of their last 6 in Interleague play, the Guardians are looking to win their first Interleague series since taking 2 of 3 from St. Louis from May 26-28…Cleveland is 4-5 in home Interleague matchups and 8-13 overall…through 21 Interleague contests, the club has a slash line of .251/.307/.373 and is averaging 3.9 Runs/game…the pitching staff owns a 4.46 ERA (91ER/183.2IP) with a .261 opponent batting average…under Francona, the Guards are 113-108 overall against Interleague opponents and 61-48 at Progressive Field.
FINDING THE GROOVE
The Guardians were 22-28 through their first 50 games, ranking in the bottom 5 of MLB in most offensive categories…in the 24 games since, Cleveland is 14-10 and has improved its offense significantly compared to its first 50 contests, increasing its batting average by .64 points, scoring 1.54 more runs per game and leading MLB in hits (see table below).
J-NAY AND JOSÉ LEADING THE WAY
Since May 30, JOSH NAYLOR has been one of the best hitters in baseball (see table), hitting safely in 16 of 20 games with multiple hits in 11 of those 16 contests…over this stretch, his .415 (34-for-82) batting average trails only MIA’s Luis Arraez (.442) and his 23 RBI are second behind LAA’s Shohei Ohtani (25)…he’s raised his average from .235 to .290 over this period and is driving in a run every 3.57 at-bats, 3rd in MLB…among primary first basemen, he has the most RBI (55) and the 2nd-highest batting average (.290) behind LAD’s Freddie Freeman (.323)…he leads MLB with 25 RBI in the 7th-inning-or-later ahead of STL’s Nolan Gorman (24).
JOSÉ RAMÍREZ went 1-for-3 with an RBI in Thursday’s matchup, passing Bobby Avila (1,236) for 16th-most hits in franchise history and tied him with Dale Mitchell (1,237) for 15th-most hits in Cleveland history…his RBI walk in the 8th frame drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk in the 8th to give him his 711th career RBI, passing Carlos Santana for 14thmost RBI in club history…since June 6, he has a slash line of .410/.448/.787 with 5 home runs and 15 RBI, ranking highly in many categories (see table)…he’s driven in a run in 6 of his last 7 and 10 of his last 14 games…the pair own 100 of the club’s 272 RBI this season (37%).
THE GUARDIAC KIDS
The Guardians lead MLB with 32 one-run games out of their first 74 contests this season, owning a 15-17 record in such contests… only the 2018 Seattle Mariners (33, 23-10) have more one-run games through the first 74 contests of a season since 2012… Cleveland’s 32 one-run contests are tied for 2nd-most in club history through the first 74 games of a season, the most since 2005 (also 32, 13-19)…Cleveland’s 10 extra-inning contests are tied with 5 others for most in MLB this season…the Guards 6 extra-inning wins rank 3rd, trailing Minnesota and Detroit (7).
TONIGHT’S STARTER – 57 SHANE BIEBER RHP
BIEBER AT HOME
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 4-1 1.89 6 6 38.0 29 8 8 14 30
Career 24-16 2.50 57 56 342.1 327 143 133 85 385
BIEBER’S MLB CAREER
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
2023 5-4 3.51 15 15 95.0 91 38 37 25 69
Career 59-30 3.21 128 126 798.0 709 305 285 178 900
TONIGHT’S START
The 2020 Cy Young winner is scheduled to make his 16th start of the season, seventh at home, in the opener of this 3-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers…is making this appearance on 5 days’ rest; is 23-10 with a 2.62 ERA (89ER/306.0IP) in 46 career starts on 5 days’ rest…is 3-2 with a 3.22 ERA (16ER/44.2IP) in 7 starts on 5 days’ rest this season…Cleveland has an 81-45 record in Bieber’s 126 career starts but is 6-9 in 2023.
LAST TIME OUT
He last took the mound on June 17 against the Diamondbacks in the penultimate contest of their 6-game road trip…he suffered his fourth loss of the season after tossing 7.1 innings with 7 hits, 5 runs (earned), 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts on 99 pitches…he faced only 10 hitters in the first 3 innings with 2 runners reaching base via an error and single…after a Ketel Marte walk to leadoff the 4th, Christian Walker hit a 2-run home run to tie the game at 2-2…after a 1-2-3 5th and a scoreless 6th and 7th frames, Bieber allowed a leadoff solo home run to Jake McCarthy and a Marte single before a Corbin Carroll 2-run home run ended his outing with the Diamondbacks in front 5-2…marked his first start since September 1, 2022 vs. Baltimore allowing 3-or-more home runs.
BREWING UP SUCCESS
This will be his second career start against Milwaukee…his lone start against the Brewers was September 6, 2020 in Cleveland… Bieber earned the win, throwing 5.0 innings, allowing 5 hits and one run (earned) with a walk and 10 strikeouts…Bieber tossed 3.2 perfect innings and struck out 7 of the first 9 hitters he faced before a Christian Yelich walk…the Brewers 5 hits off Bieber were all singles, including 2 infield singles…a Jacob Nottingham infield single plated Milwaukee’s only run of the contest.
This will be Bieber’s 23rd career start against the NL, holding an 11-6 record with a 3.79 ERA (56ER/133.0IP)…is currently 1-3 with a 4.01 ERA (15ER/33.2IP) in 5 Interleague games this season with 3 quality starts…Cleveland has a 15-7 record in Bieber’s 22 Interleague starts, but has lost 4 of his last 5 outings against the NL and has a 1-4 record in 2023 Interleague contests.
This will be his 13th career start against the NL Central, owning a 9-1 record with a 3.41 ERA (27ER/71.1IP), his lowest ERA against any NL division…he won his lone start against the division this season on May 26 vs. St. Louis (W, 6.2IP, 5H, 2R/ER, 4BB, 2SO)…Bieber’s .900 winning percentage against the NL Central is the highest among any MLB pitcher since 2018 (min. 10 GS)…8 of Bieber’s previous 12 outings against the division have resulted in quality starts.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
In his 6 starts at Progressive Field this season, Bieber holds a 1.89 ERA (8ER/38.0IP) compared to a 4.58 (29ER/57.0IP) mark on the road… ranks as the 6th-best home ERA in MLB and 3rdbest home ERA in the AL behind Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan (1.89) and Zach Eflin (1.85)…he also ranks among MLB hurlers in home starts this season in opposing SLG (8th, .281), wins (T10th, 4) and win percentage (T10th, .800).
