MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:
BREWERS vs. CARDINALS
SUMMARY: Are 184-238 all-time, including 3-4 this season…..went 9-10 last season.
at MIL: Are 88-122 all-time, including 2-1 this season…..went 5-5 last season…..are 78-110 at American Family Field and 10-12 at County Stadium.
at STL: Are 96-116 all-time, including 1-3 this season…..went 4-5 last season…..have gone 73-81 at new Busch Stadium and 23-35 at old Busch Stadium.
Do You Believe in Magic?
The Brewers’ magic number to clinch the NL Central is 7…..a combination of Brewers wins and Cubs losses totaling 7 will clinch the division…..the magic number to clinch a postseason berth is 6 over the Marlins and 5 over the Reds.
The Hunt for October
The Brewers are looking to qualify for the postseason for the fifth time in the last six seasons…..the team made the postseason in a franchise-record four consecutive years from 2018-21 and missed the postseason by just a single game in both 2017 and 2022.
Close Calls
The Brewers are 19-9 (.679) in their last 28 games, the best record in the NL and tied with the Rays for second in the majors (since August 18)…..all 9 losses during this stretch have come by just one (6) or two (3) runs….. overall, the team’s last 10 losses have come by one (7) or two (3) runs.
Best MLB Records – Since August 18
Team Record
Baltimore ………………………….20-9 (.690)
Milwaukee ……………………… 19-9 (.679)
Tampa Bay …………………………19-9 (.679)
Fine ‘Penmanship
The Brewers bullpen has a 0.85 ERA in its last 10 games (42.1ip, 4er) with a 0.85 WHIP and .147 opponent AVG (21-for-143) with 15 walks and 41 strikeouts…..the Brewers (3.49) lead the National League and trail only the Yankees (3.28) in the majors in bullpen ERA this season.
That’ll Leave a Mark
Mark Canha, acquired from the Mets on July 31, is batting .317 (44-for-139) with 5 HR and 26 RBI in 40 games with the Brewers (.400/.475/.875).
Don’t Mess With Bill
William Contreras has reached base safely in 26 of his last 27 games, batting .330 (35-for-106) with 4 HR and 19 RBI (.424/.509/.933).
Better Call Sal
Sal Frelick has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games during which he is batting .340 (18-for-53, 2rbi)…..he has a .417 OBP during this stretch.
Santana’s Greatest Hits
Carlos Santana needs 1 HR for 300 in his career…..his 299 HR rank 10th in MLB history by switch-hitters.
TONIGHT’S GAME: Is game 2 (0-1) of the final road trip of the season to St. Louis (0-1) and Miami (3g)…..following this trip and an off day next Monday, the team returns to American Family Field to end the regular season vs. St. Louis (3g) and Chicago-NL (3g).
IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP J.C. Mejía (right shoulder), OF Garrett Mitchell (left shoulder), 1B Darin Ruf (right knee), RHP Julio Teheran (right hip), RHP Thyago Vieira (right calf), LHP Justin Wilson (left lat) and OF Jesse Winker (back/right quad) are on the injured list…..Ashby, Mejía, Mitchell, Ruf and Wilson are on the 60-day IL.
IN THE STANDINGS (173 days): The Brewers have spent the following number of days alone or tied at each position in the NL Central standings: FIRST: 120, SECOND: 51,
THIRD: 2, FOURTH: 0, FIFTH: 0…..the team is currently in first place, leading the Cubs and Reds by 6.0 games.
SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 27-19-2 in series play.
Game 1: 27-22, Game 2: 29-19, Game 3: 23-23, Game 4: 5-2
Sweep Wins (9): 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), at CIN (3g, 7/14-7/16), at CWS (3g, 8/11-8/13),
at TEX (3g, 8/18-8/20), vs. MIN (2g, 8/22-8/23), vs. SD (3g, 8/25-8/27)
Sweep Losses (5): at COL (3g, 5/2-5/4), vs. OAK (3g, 6/9-6/11), at MIN (2g, 6/13-6/14), at ATL (3g, 7/28-7/30), at LAD (3g, 8/15-8/17)
AT HOME: The Brewers are 45-30 at home, going 15-7-2 in series play…..the team is 13-3 in its last 16 home games…..from 8/9-9/2 had a season-high 8-game winning streak…..went 46-35 at home last season, going 15-8-4 in series play.
ON THE ROAD: The Brewers are 39-36 on the road, going 12-12-0 in series play…..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 30 replay challenges this season, going 14-16…..their last challenge (won) came on 9/14 vs. Miami as an out call at home plate (Tyrone Taylor) was overturned.
ALSO VERY LIKELY TO PITCH: #48 – RHP COLIN REA (23g, 21gs, 5-6, 4.89)
REA AT A GLANCE: Colin Rea, 33, will be making his 24th appearance of the season…..Rea last pitched last Wednesday in relief vs. Miami and took a 2-0 loss (4.2ip, 4h, 1r, 1er, 1bb, 3k, 65 pitches)…..he is in his fourth stint with the team this season (4/13-5/14, 5/20-8/4, 9/2-9/13 and 9/18-current)…..the team is 13-8 in his starts…..he has 4 quality starts…..opponents are batting .242 (105-for-433, 22hr)…..he made 4 starts at Triple-A Nashville, going 0-0 with a 2.50 ERA (18ip, 16h, 7r, 5er, 1bb, 21k, 1hr)…..after pitching in Japan in 2022, Rea re-signed with Milwaukee on January 27 (non-roster invitee)…..his only outing for the Brewers prior to this season came in relief on 10/2/21 at Los Angeles-NL…..his name is pronounced “RAY.”
LAST SEASON: Rea pitched in Japan, where he went 5-6 with a 3.96 ERA in 23 games/16 starts with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
CAREER: Is 13-14 with a 4.90 ERA in 59 games/48 starts (268.1ip, 146er)…..has pitched for San Diego (2015-16), Miami (2016), Chicago-NL (2020) and Milwaukee (2021, ‘23)…..is 12-13 with a 4.95 ERA as a starter (247.1ip, 136er) and 1-1 with a 4.29 ERA as a reliever (21ip, 10er)…..Rea was originally selected by San Diego in the 12th round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Indiana State University…..he underwent “Tommy John” surgery on 11/11/16, causing him to miss the entire 2017 season…..he was named 2019 Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Year after going 14-4 with a 3.95 ERA in 26 starts at Triple-A Iowa (Cubs).
CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 2-4 with a 5.28 ERA in 13 games/11 starts, all coming this season (59.2ip, 35er).
CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 6-6 with a 4.93 ERA in 26 games/19 starts (115ip, 63er)…..is 3-2 with a 4.47 ERA in 10 starts this season (54.1ip, 27er).
CAREER vs. CARDINALS: Is 0-3 with a 6.20 ERA in 5 starts (20.1ip, 26h, 16r, 14er, 9bb, 16k, 5hr)…..has not faced the Cardinals since 9/5/20 in St. Louis with the Cubs.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS NOTES:
RECENT REDBIRDS: The St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers play the 2nd game of a four-game series tonight at Busch Stadium as the two division-rivals face off seven times over an 11-day stretch (Sept. 18-28) … St. Louis is 2-2 on its homestand vs. Philadelphia (1-2) and Milwaukee (1-0) …The Cardinals have gone 9-5 over their last 14 games (Sept. 3-present).
FLIGHT PATTERN: The Cardinals enter today in 5th place in the NL Central, 3.0 games behind 4th-place Pittsburgh … St. Louis has spent 133 of 167 days in last place on the MLB schedule (April 26-May 19, May 29-July 7 & July 28-present) … The Cardinals 67-83 record is their lowest at the 150-game mark since 1990 when they were 67-83 (.443).
WAINO’S WORLD: Last night, Adam Wainwright became the 5th active MLB pitcher and 3rd Cardinal all-time to earn 200 wins, while also achieving a handful of other accomplishments in the process:
- 38th pitcher in National League history with 200 career wins
- 80th AL/NL pitcher since 1920 to win 200+ games
- 24th MLB pitcher since 2000 to reach the 200 career win threshold
- 1st pitcher in MLB history to have his 200th career win come in a 1-0 game
- Oldest pitcher (42-019) in Cardinals history to throw 7.0+ shutout innings, surpassing Jim Kaat (age 41-210 on June 4, 1980 – 10.0 IP) and Grover Pete Alexander (age 41-046 on April 12, 1928 – 9.0 IP).
- 14th MLB pitcher all-time to win 200 games exclusively with one franchise and the 38th to win 200 games overall with one franchise.
GAMES THAT MATTER: Major League Baseball has the St. Louis postseason elimination number at one game … Since Opening Day of 2011, the Cardinals have played 1,987 regular season games, out of 1,990, during which they still maintained playoff aspirations and had not yet been eliminated.
CATCHING CONNECTIONS:
- Last night, Willson Contreras homered for the lone run in Adam Wainwright’s 200th career win … In Wainwright’s 100th career win, Yadier Molina also homered in a 1-0 victory at Cincinnati (March 31, 2014). On Sept. 20, 2021 at Milwaukee, Yadier Molina caught the 200th career of Jon Lester, who was a primary batterymate of Willson in Chicago from 2016-20.
OH BROTHER: For the 4th time in franchise history, two different sets of brothers have played against each other in the same season: Hector/Jose Sr. Cruz and Ken/Bob Forsch in 1975 and 1977; Randy/Ron Flores and Yadier/Bengie Molina in 2007; and Willson/ William Contreras and Richie/Joshua Palacios in 2023. – Elias
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER: LHP DREW ROM (1-2, 5.96)
TONIGHT’S GAME
- Rookie LHP is making his sixth career start for the Cardinals, and his first career start and appearance against the Milwaukee Brewers. Will be his fourth career start against an N.L. Central club, previous facing the Pirates twice and Reds once. Was acquired from the Orioles at the trade deadline with minor league infielder Cesar Prieto and right-handed pitcher Zack Showalter, in exchange for RHP Jack Flaherty. Was recalled for two days (May 9-10) by Baltimore earlier in the year, but did not see any game action. Making his second career start at Busch Stadium. Had a no decision vs. PIT (9/2) tossing 4.2 innings in a game the Cardinals lost late 7-6. Became the 7th Cardinals player to make his Major League debut this season and third pitcher with RHP Guillermo Zuñiga (5/2 vs. LAA) and RHP Kyle Leahy (7/7 at CWS). Made two starts in Memphis (AAA) following trade, and held his opposition to one hit in each start, throwing five and six innings. Struck out 10 batters in his Memphis Redbirds debut (8/9 at Durham), the second double-digit strikeout game of his career.
LAST TIME OUT
- Earned his first Major League win against his drafting team, Baltimore at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Held the Orioles without a hit through the first 4.2 innings before Jorge Mateo hit an infield single. Became the first Cardinals left-handed pitcher to throw 5.1 or more scoreless innings with two hits or less and seven or more strikeouts in one of his first five starts.
DATE vs. RESULT DEC IP H R ER BB SO HR NP-S
9/13 @BAL W 1-0 W-1 5.1 2 0 0 3 7 0 93-63
