MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:
WHAT’S BREWING?
Today’s Transactions
RHP Adrian Houser was reinstated from the 15-day injured list and will start today…..RHP Tyson Miller was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.
In Need of a Win
The Brewers are on a 6-game losing streak, their longest since dropping 8 in a row from 6/3-6/11 last season.
Road Work Ahead
The Brewers are looking to avoid the ninth winless road trip of 6 or more games in franchise history…..their last such trip came from 7/20-7/25, 2012 during an 0-6 visit to Cincinnati (0-3) and Philadelphia (0-3).
Look At The Bright Side
A Pirates loss today and a Brewers win would result in Milwaukee picking up a game in the standings during this road trip…..the Brewers have been exactly 1.5 games behind the Pirates for first place at the end of the day every day since April 29.
When Willy Do It?
Willy Adames is just one homer away from 100 for his Major League career.
Most HR as a Shortstop
MLB Since 2019
Player HR
Willy Adames, MIL ……………………….. 89
Xander Bogaerts, SD ……………………… 86
Francisco Lindor, NYM ………………….. 86
Don’t Mess With Bill
William Contreras has reached base safely in 25 of his 26 games in 2023, including each of his last 14 contests.
Let’s Get Rowdy!
Over his last 20 games, Rowdy Tellez is batting .299 (20-for-67) with 7 HR and 17 RBI.
NL Leaders – HR
Player HR
Max Muncy, LAD ……………………………….12
Pete Alonso, NYM ………………………………11
Patrick Wisdom, CHC ………………………..11
Rowdy Tellez, MIL……………………………9
Ozzie Albies, ATL ……………………………….9
Sean Murphy, ATL ……………………………..9
Matt Olson, ATL ………………………………….9
NL Leaders – Runs
Player Runs
Ronald Acuña Jr., ATL …………………… 30
Matt Olson, ATL ………………………………. 29
Cody Bellinger, CHC …………………………27
Jonathan India, CIN ……………………….. 26
Christian Yelich, MIL ……………………. 25
Nick Castellanos, PHI …………………….. 25
Freddie Freeman, LAD …………………… 25
Devin Sent
Through 10 outings (9.1ip) in 2023, Devin Williams has yet to surrender a run…..opponents are batting just .156 (5-for-32, 3bb, 14k) and he is a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities.
THIS AFTERNOON’S GAME: Is game 6 (0-5) of a 6-game road trip to Colorado (0-3) and San Francisco (0-2)…..the team returns to American Family Field following this trip for 6 games in 7 days against Los Angeles-NL (3g) and Kansas City (3g).
IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: RHP Jason Alexander (right rotator cuff), LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP Matt Bush (right rotator cuff), OF Garrett Mitchell (left shoulder), INF Luis Urías (left hamstring), RHP Gus Varland (right hand), LHP Justin Wilson (left elbow) and RHP Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) are on the injured list…..Alexander, Ashby, Mitchell, Urías and Wilson are on the 60-day IL.
IN THE STANDINGS (38 days): The Brewers have spent the following number of days alone or tied at each position in the NL Central standings: FIRST: 22, SECOND: 14, THIRD: 2, FOURTH: 0, FIFTH: 0…..the team is currently in second place, trailing the first-place Pirates by 1.5 games…..the team has been in second place for 14 straight days.
SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 6-5-0 in series play, including this series.
Game 1: 5-6, Game 2: 7-4, Game 3: 5-5, Game 4: 1-0
Sweep Wins (2): vs. NYM (3g, 4/3-4/5), at SEA (3g, 4/17-4/19)
Sweep Losses (1): at COL (3g, 5/2-5/4)
AT HOME: The Brewers are 9-6 at home, going 3-2-0 in series play…..the team went 46-35 at home last season, going 15-8-4 in series play.
ON THE ROAD: The Brewers are 9-9 on the road, going 3-3-0 in series play, including this series…..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 five replay challenges this season, going 2-3…..their last challenge (won) came on 5/4 at Colorado as a hit by pitch (Charlie Blackmon) was overturned to a foul ball.
TODAY’S STARTER: #37 – RHP ADRIAN HOUSER (Season Debut)
HOUSER AT A GLANCE: Adrian Houser, 30, will be making his first start of the season…..Houser began the year on the 15-day injured list with a right groin strain…..he was sent to Triple-A Nashville on rehab assignment on April 14, where he went 0-1 with a 3.07 ERA in 4 starts (14.2ip, 17h, 5r, 5er, 5bb, 12k, 2hr)…..he last started on 4/28 vs. Omaha (Royals) and received no decision in the 4-3 win (5ip, 3h, 3r, 3er, 2bb, 3k, 80 pitches)…..Houser was acquired from Houston, along with LHP Josh Hader, OF Brett Phillips and OF Domingo Santana, in exchange for OF Carlos Gómez, RHP Mike Fiers and International Signing Bonus Slot #76 on 7/30/15.
LAST SEASON: Houser went 6-10 with a 4.73 ERA in 22 games/21 starts last season…..the team went 9-12 in his starts…..he made 6 quality starts…..opponents batted .258….. he posted a 2.98 ERA over his first 8 starts of the season (42.1ip, 14er) and a 6.17 ERA over his last 13 starts (58.1ip, 40er)…..he was on the 15-day injured list from 7/1-8/23 with a right flexor strain and from 9/28 through the remainder of the season with a right groin strain.
CAREER: Is 23-29 with a 3.97 ERA in 106 games/76 starts (428ip, 189er)…..is in his seventh Major League season, all with the Brewers (2015, 2018-23)…..has gone 18-29 with a 4.31 ERA as a starter (371.2ip, 178er) and 5-0 with a 1.76 ERA in relief (56.1ip, 11er)…..underwent “Tommy John” surgery on his right elbow on 7/21/16.
CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 8-14 with a 3.47 ERA in 54 games/37 starts (212.2ip, 82er)…..went 3-5 with a 3.68 ERA in 12 games/11 starts last season (58.2ip, 24er).
CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 15-15 with a 4.47 ERA in 52 games/39 starts (215.1ip, 107er)…..went 3-5 with a 6.14 ERA in 10 starts last season (44ip, 30er).
CAREER vs. GIANTS: Houser made his only career appearance against the Giants in relief on 6/15/19 at Oracle Park (2ip, 3h, 1r, 1er, 1bb, 1k).
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS NOTES:
TODAY’S GAME: Winners of four straight, the Giants will look for a victory in today’s series finale with Milwaukee…SF’s win yesterday secured their second home series win of the season (also April 24-27 vs. St. Louis)…SF is seeking to sweep the Brewers in a three-game series here at Oracle for the first time since June 13-15, 2016.
STREAKY, STREAKY, STREAKY: This four-game winning streak for SF followed a four-game losing streak, which followed a five-game win streak…needless to say, the Giants have been a streaky team as of late…through 32 games, the Giants have already had a five-game winning streak (April 22-26), a five-game losing streak (April 12-18), a four-game losing streak (April 27-May 1) and a four-game winning streak (May 2-present)…oddly enough, the Giants did not win consecutive games this year until April 22-23 vs. New York-NL, which started that five-game winning streak.
IT’S THE CLIIIIIMMMMB: The Giants find themselves back at two games under .500 entering play today (15-17)…a win today would bring SF a game under .500 for the first time since April 11 when they were 5-6 after a 5-0 win over the Dodgers here at Oracle.
NOT A BAD RUN, EH?: Today’s game will complete a run of five series that featured four playoff teams (Mets, Cardinals, Padres & Astros) from last season and a Milwaukee team that won 86 games a season ago…in these 15 games the Giants have gone 9-6…prior to this stretch SF was 6-11.
THIS IS MORE LIKE IT…: With wins in the first two games of this homestand, the Giants have now won seven of their last eight home games dating to April 22 after going 2-6 in their first eight home games of 2023…overall, SF is 9-7 at Oracle Park this season but has a -9 run differential…from 2020- 2022, the Giants were 117-78 (.600) in the confines of Oracle Park with a +125 run differential.
JUST GOTTA GET TO FOUR…: Last night’s win moved the Giants to 13-7 this year when they score four or more runs… when they fail to reach that four-run threshold (scoring three or fewer runs), they are only 2-10.
PUSH TO START: San Francisco has received excellent production from their starting staff this season…over their last 13 games, SF starters are 7-1 with a 2.71 ERA, second-best in MLB since April 22 behind the Texas Rangers (2.65)… as a team in this 13-game stretch, the Giants have gone 9-4… overall, the Giants rotation has a 3.32 ERA (fourth in MLB) with a league-low 36 walks in 168.0 innings.
HOMER HAPPY: The Giants have hit 53 home runs through 32 games, fourth-most in the Majors behind the Rays (69), Braves (57) and Dodgers (55)…the Giants have homered in 25 of their 32 contests and have received home runs from 13 different players…SF has scored 59% of their runs on homers in 2023 (85-of-144).
STRENGTH IN HOMER NUMBERS: With IF/OF Brett Wisely clubbing his first career homer yesterday, SF now has 13 different players with at least one homer this year…that’s tied for fifth-most in MLB…only the Cardinals, Red Sox, Twins and Yankees have more players with at least one homer this year… each of those teams have had 14 different players homer in 2023.
CHECKING BACK IN…: The Giants struck out five times as a team yesterday, matching their lowest strikeout total in a game this season (also five on April 20 vs. New York-NL)…in fact SF has not reached the 10-strikeout threshold in either of the two games in this series and has not gone more than two straight games without registering a 10-strikeout game offensively this season…they’ve struck out fewer than 10 times in four of their last five games…however, SF’s 330 strikeouts are still tied for most in the Majors with Minnesota.
EL DE BEJUMA: IF Thairo Estrada slugged his fifth HR of the season yesterday and now boasts a .907 OPS…Estrada’s .907 OPS is 12th in the National League while his .336 average is fourth-best in the NL…he’s been worth a team-best 1.5 fWAR, which is 12th-best in the Majors.
IT ALL COMES OUT IN THE WSH: Following today’s game the Giants will welcome in the Washington Nationals for the back half of this six-game homestand Monday-Wednesday…last season, the Giants went 4-2 vs. the ‘Nats overall but were 1-2 against them here in San Francisco.
TODAY’S STARTER – ROSS STRIPLING RHP #48
2023 RECORD: 0-1, 6.10 ERA
BACK IN THE ROTATION: 33-year-old right-hander has been slotted back into the Giants starting rotation, filling the spot of LHP Alex Wood, who was placed on the 15-day Injured List with a left hamstring strain on April 19…Stripling has made just three starts this season, while appearing out of the ‘pen three times.
ONE OF THE NEW GUYS: 33-year-old right-hander inked a two-year Major League contract with the Giants this past December… the deal included an opt-out following this season…in Stripling, the Giants added a versatile arm who’s had success in multiple roles.
LAST TIME OUT: Took a no-decision after allowing two runs on five hits in 5.0 innings in his home city of Houston as SF lost to the Astros 7-3 on Monday…Stripling got six misses on 15 swings against his slider and five misses on 12 swings against his changeup (SIS).
LEAVING THE YARD: Allowed 12 homers in 134.1 innings all of last season, but so far this year he’s given up six in just 20.2 innings…allowed six homers in his first 10.0 innings, the fastest a Giants pitcher had gotten to six homers allowed since Ryan Jensen in 2003… hasn’t given up a homer in his last three outings and 10.2 innings.
THE BOTTOM THIRD: Last season Stripling thrived throwing pitches in the bottom third of the strike zone or below…opposing hitters batted .175 and he threw 61% strikes there…this year he’s thrown more pitches down there but hasn’t had the same results with hitters batting .375 (15-for-40) and only 53% strikes.
MAKE ‘EM CHASE: It’s early but Stripling hasn’t been able to match last year’s 37% chase rate…he’s at 26.5% overall this season.
VS. MILWAUKE: Has not faced the Brew Crew since 2019 when he was a member of the Dodgers…overall this will be his sixth appearance and fourth start against Milwaukee in his career.
LAST YEAR: Stripling completed his seventh big league campaign last season and set career highs in wins (10), starts (24), innings pitched (134.1), ERA (3.01) and WHIP (1.02)…he appeared in 32 games overall with the Blue Jays and posted a 9-4 record with a 2.92 ERA over 24 starts, while going 1-0 with a 4.09 ERA over eight relief appearances.
WINNING FORMULA: The Blue Jays were 15-4 last season in Stripling’s starts after he joined the starting rotation full time on June 6 after the Blue Jays lost LHP Hyun Jin Ryu to Tommy John surgery… they went 11-1 over his final 12 starts to end the regular season.
