Thursday, March 28, 2024
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MLB Preview: Milwaukee Brewers (29-27) at Cincinnati Reds (26-30)

MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:

A Series Situation
The Brewers went 5-1 over their first 6 series this season and have since gone 3-9 in series play.

Road Work Ahead
The Brewers are looking to win their first road series since they swept 3 games in Seattle from April 17-19….. the team has gone 4-11 on the road since then, losing 5 straight series.

O Say Can UC?
Joey Wiemer returns to Cincinnati for the first time as a Major Leaguer this weekend…..prior to being selected by Milwaukee in the fourth round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft, Wiemer played at the University of Cincinnati.

Insult To Injury
This weekend was to mark the return of former Reds All-Star Jesse Winker to Great American Ball Park…..Winker, who is currently on the 10-day injured list with a cervical strain, is a career .297 hitter (190-for-639) with 37 HR and 100 RBI in 205 games here with a .394 OBP/.535 SLG/.930 OPS.

Better Off Red
Since joining the Brewers in 2018, Christian Yelich has played 75 games against Cincinnati and has hit .302 (83-for-275) with 17 HR and 49 RBI, including three cycles.

Most HR vs. Cincinnati – Since 2018
Player HR
Ian Happ, CHC ………………………………….. 19
Christian Yelich, MIL …………………….. 17
Paul Goldschmidt, STL …………………….17

Most RBI vs. Cincinnati – Since 2018
Player RBI
Ian Happ, CHC ………………………………….. 51
Christian Yelich, MIL ……………………. 49
Paul Goldschmidt, STL ………………….. 46

A Slice of Devin
Devin Williams has gone 9-for-9 in save opportunities…..he is unscored upon in 16 of his 17 outings, posting a 0.51 ERA…..he has held opponents to a .133 AVG (8-for-60, 1hr) and has a 0.85 WHIP with 22 K in 17.2 innings.

The Brice Is Right
Rookie infielder Brice Turang has yet to commit a Major League error in 18

TONIGHT’S GAME: Is game 4 (1-2) of a 7-game road trip to Toronto (1-2) and Cincinnati (4g)…..following this trip, the Brewers return to American Family Field for a 6-game homestand against Baltimore (3g) and Oakland (3g).

IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: SS Willy Adames (concussion), RHP Jason Alexander (right rotator cuff), LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP JB Bukauskas (neck), RHP Matt Bush (right rotator cuff), LHP Eric Lauer (right shoulder), LHP Wade Miley (left lat), OF Garrett Mitchell (left shoulder), INF Luis Urías (left hamstring), LHP Justin Wilson (left elbow), OF Jesse Winker (neck) and RHP Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) are on the injured list…..Alexander, Ashby, Mitchell, Urías, Wilson and Woodruff are on the 60-day IL.

SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 8-10-0 in series play.
Game 1: 7-11, Game 2: 11-7, Game 3: 9-9, Game 4: 2-0
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 (1): at COL (3g, 5/2-5/4)

AT HOME: The Brewers are 16-12 at home, going 5-4-0 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 13-15 on the road, going 3-6-0 in series play…..are 4-11 over their last 15 games and have dropped their last 5 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 10 replay challenges this season, going 5-5…..their last challenge (lost) came on May 25 vs. San Francisco as a foul tip (Joey Wiemer) stood.

TONIGHT’S STARTER: #39 – RHP CORBIN BURNES (11gs, 4-4, 3.68)
BURNES AT A GLANCE: Corbin Burnes, 28, is making his 12th start…..Burnes last started last Saturday vs. San Francisco and received no decision in the Brewers’ 3-1 defeat (7ip, 4h, 1r, 1er, 3bb, 8k, 110 pitches)…..the team is 5-6 in his starts…..he has 6 quality starts…..opponents are batting .222 (52-for-234, 9hr)…..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.

CAREER: Is 39-23 with a 3.26 ERA in 146 games/85 starts (579.1ip, 210er)…..is in his sixth Major League season, all with the Brewers (2018-23)…..is 31-20 with a 3.02 ERA as a starter (497.1ip, 167er) 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 19-13 with a 3.53 ERA in 72 games/45 starts (306ip, 120er)…..is 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA in 6 starts this season (33.1ip, 15er).

CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 20-10 with a 2.96 ERA in 74 games/40 starts (273.1ip, 90er)…..is 2-3 with a 3.26 ERA in 5 starts this season (30.1ip, 11er).

CAREER vs. REDS: Is 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA in 14 games/4 starts (42.2ip, 12er)…..his first 10 outings against the Reds came in relief, going 0-1 with a 2.81 ERA (16ip, 5er)…..his last 4 outings have been starts, going 2-0 with a 2.36 ERA (26.2ip, 7er)…..Burnes is 2-1 with a 0.95 ERA in 7 career games/2 starts at Great American Ball Park (19ip, 2er)

CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:

RED HOTTEST

  • Last night’s 8-2 loss at Bos snapped a 5-game winning streak that tied both the Reds’ season high (4/24-4/29) and their longest winning streak of last year (7/7-7/12)…the Reds are 6-4-1 in 11 series beginning 4/24.
  • Wed’s 5-4 win at Bos snapped the Reds’ streak in which they had scored at least 8 runs in 4 consecutive games, their longest streak since 7/28- 7/31, 1987 (4g).
  • Rookie Matt McLain has a 10-game hitting streak, the longest by a Reds batter this season (.413, .460obp, .609slg, 1.069ops)…is the first Reds player to produce a 10-game hitting streak within his first 15 career apps since Dan Driessen in 1973…since 1900 is only the second Reds player to produce at least 23 hits in his first 15 career apps (Chuck Aleno, 24 hits, 1941)…courtesy @EliasSports.
  • Kevin Newman in his last 19 apps is hitting .389.
  • Spencer Steer in May, hit .318 (27g, 35h, 18r, 8 2b, 1 3b, 6hr, 19rbi, .372obp, .573slg, .945ops)…last month led National League rookies in games (tied), runs, hits and RBI…is on the ballot to become the Reds’ first NL Rookie of the Month since 2B Jonathan India in July 2021 on his way to the Rookie of the Year award…for the season, leads Major League rookies in extra-base hits, is tied for the lead in doubles and leads National League rookies in hitting, hits, doubles and total bases.
  • RHP Alexis Díaz didn’t allow a run in any of his last 6 apps (6.1ip)…has converted all 13 save chances, the longest conversion streak of his career and the longest by a Reds pitcher since 2009 (Francisco Cordero, 15sv).
  • RHP Buck Farmer in his last 18 apps has posted a 1.21 ERA.
  • Hunter Greene in his last 3 starts is 1-1, 2.37 (19ip, 6h, 8bb, 29k).
  • LHP Alex Young in his last 9 apps has posted a 1.50 ERA.

RED HOTS

  • Reds baserunners in 52 attempts have scored 51 runs from second base on singles…both lead the Major Leagues.
  • The Reds entered today ranked 29th in the Major Leagues with 43 HR (Cle 30th, 33hr), their fewest in 56 games since the 2001 team produced
    43 HR through its first 56 games…from 4/18-4/25, this year’s team did not produce a home run in a season-high 8 consecutive games, their longest team homerless streak since 1992.

TONIGHT’S GAME

  • Is Game 1 of a 4-game series vs Mike Vassallo’s Brewers and Game 1 of a 7-game homestand that concludes with a 3-game series vs LAD.
  • Tonight’s game will feature the largest attended concert in Great American Ball Park’s 21-year history and will threaten GABP’s single-game record for a baseball game (2023 Opening Day, 44,063).
  • In conjunction with Major League Baseball’s Lou Gehrig Day (“MLB 4ALS”), tonight’s post-game concert features the Zac Brown Band to raise awareness and funds for the Hop On A Cure Foundation, founded by band member John Driskell ‘Hop’ Hopkins after his diagnosis with ALS in December 2021…a portion of the sales of tickets to tonight’s game will be donated to Hop On A Cure in a special post-game check presentation…“Hop” will sing tonight’s National Anthem.
  • The Reds are coming off a 5-1 road trip to Chc’s Wrigley Field (1914, 3-0) and Bos’ Fenway Park (1912, 2-1).
  • On the road trip completed last night, the Reds produced their series sweep at Wrigley Field since 8/12-8/14, 2013 (3g) and their first series win vs Bos since the 1975 World Series.

SERIES NOTES

  • In 2022 the Brewers won 4 of the 6 series and 13 of the 19 games.
  • Over the last 5 seasons, the Brewers’ .690 winning percentage (29-13) at GABP is the best of any NL Central Division team in that span.
  • Reds pitchers in 2022 allowed 44 HR to Mil, the most by Brewers batters against any team in a single season and the most allowed to any team in a season by Reds’ pitchers…@EliasSports.
  • Hunter Renfroe in 2022 hit 8 HR at Great American Ball Park, the most by any opposing player in a single season.

Tonight’s Pitcher – #55 Brandon Williamson, LHP

Tonight is making his fourth Major League appearance.

  • On 5/16 at Col, became only the 10th visiting pitcher to make his Major League debut with a start at Coors Field, the first since Hou’s José Urquidy on 7/2/19.
  • Became only the fourth Reds pitcher to make his Major League debut with at least 5.2 innings, 2 hits or fewer allowed and at least 6 strikeouts, joining Tom Carroll (7/7/1974 vs StL, 7ip, 2h, 6k), Mo Sanford (8/9/1991 at SD, 7ip, 2h, 8k) and Johnny Cueto (4/3/2008 vs Ari, 7ip, 1h, 10k).
  • Became only the fourth Reds pitcher in the expansion era (since 1961) to retire at least 14 consecutive batters in his Major League debut, joining Wayne Simpson (16, 4/9/1970 at LAD), Rob Bell (16, 4/8/2000 vs Cubs) and Johnny Cueto (15, 4/3/2008 vs Ari).
  • In that 3-1 win on 5/16 at Col, allowed a single to Charlie Blackmon, his first career batter faced, but didn’t allow another hit until Ezequiel Tovar’s solo HR in the sixth inning snapped the scoreless tie…Williamson retired 14 consecutive batters leading up to Tovar’s home run.
  • Turned 25 years old on the fourth day of the season.
  • Entered the season rated by Baseball America the 10th-best prospect in the organization.
  • Began the season at Class AAA Louisville (8gs, 2-4, 6.62, 34ip, 44h, 20bb, 27k, 7hr, 1.88whip, .310baa).
  • Was selected by the Mariners in the second round (59th overall) of the 2019 first-year player draft.
  • Was an MiLB.com Mariners Organization All-Star in 2019 and 2021.
  • On 3/14/22 was acquired from the Mariners, along with RHP Justin Dunn, OF Jake Fraley and a player to be named, for 3B Eugenio Suárez and OF Jesse Winker.
  • On 3/29/22 the Reds completed the trade by acquiring minor league RHP Connor Phillips as the player to be named.
  • When acquired by the Reds in March 2022, his curveball was rated by Baseball America the best in the Mariners’ organization.
  • In 2016 graduated from Martin County West High School in Sherburn, MN…spent 2 seasons (2017-2018) at North Iowa Area Community College…prior to the 2019 season transferred to Texas Christian University, where he was a teammate of fellow 2019 draftee and current injured Reds starter LHP Nick Lodolo.
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