MILWAUKEE BREWERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: Is game 5 (2-2) of a 10-game road trip to Arizona (1-2), San Diego (1-0) and Seattle (3g)…..following this trip and an off day next Thursday, the team returns to American Family Field for a 9-game homestand against Boston (3g), Detroit (3g) and Los Angeles-AL (3g).
IN THE TRAINER’S ROOM: RHP Jason Alexander (right rotator cuff), LHP Aaron Ashby (left labrum), RHP Adrian Houser (right groin), OF Tyrone Taylor (right elbow), INF Luis Urías (left hamstring), LHP Justin Wilson (left elbow) and RHP Brandon Woodruff (right shoulder) are on the IL…..Alexander, Ashby and Wilson are on the 60-day IL.
IN THE STANDINGS (15 days): The Brewers have spent the following number of days alone or tied at each position in the NL Central standings: FIRST: 13, SECOND: 0, THIRD: 2, FOURTH: 0, FIFTH: 0…..the team is currently in first place, leading the second-place Pirates by 1.0 game.
SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Brewers are 3-1-0 in series play.
Game 1: 3-2, Game 2: 3-1, Game 3: 3-1, Game 4: 0-0
Sweep Wins (1): vs. NYM (3g, 4/3-4/5)
Sweep Losses (-): None
AT HOME: The Brewers are 5-1 at home, going 2-0-0 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 4-3 on the road, going 1-1-0 in series play…..the team went 40-41 on the road last season, going 9-12-5 in series play.
MANAGER: Craig Counsell – the longest-tenured active manager in the National League and third in the majors – is in his ninth season as Brewers manager (624-559) and eighth full season…..he has the most wins (624) and games managed (1,183) of any manager in franchise history…..Counsell was named the 19th manager in franchise history on 5/4/15, replacing Ron Roenicke…..he is signed through the 2023 season.
2022 IN REVIEW: The Brewers went 86-76 last season, missing the postseason for the first time since 2017…..the team was eliminated from NL Central contention on September 27 and eliminated from postseason contention on October 3, snapping their franchise-record four consecutive years of making the playoffs…..the team won at least 86 games for the fifth consecutive full season (since 2017), joining the Dodgers (since 2012), Astros (since 2017) and Yankees (since 2017) as the only teams to accomplish the feat during this stretch (does not include 2020).
LET’S GO TO THE VIDEO TAPE: The Brewers have made three replay challenges this season, going 1-2…..their last challenge (lost) came on 4/12 at Arizona as an out call at first base (Willy Adames) stood
TONIGHT’S STARTER: #52 – LHP ERIC LAUER (2gs, 1-1, 7.71)
LAUER AT A GLANCE: Eric Lauer, 27, will be making his third start…..he last started last Saturday in a 6-0 loss vs. St. Louis (4ip, 7h, 6r, 6er, 3bb, 4k, 2hr, 93 pitches)…..his other start came on 4/2 at Chicago-NL as he earned a 9-5 win (5.1ip, 5h, 2r, 2er, 2bb, 6k, 1hr, 89 pitches)…..he was acquired from San Diego, along with INF Luis Urías and a player to be named or cash, in exchange for RHP Zach Davies and OF Trent Grisham on 11/27/19 (trade completed on 5/27/20 – cash).
LAST SEASON: Lauer went 11-7 with a 3.69 ERA in 29 starts last season…..the team went 17-12 in his starts…..he posted career highs in starts (29-tied), wins (11), innings pitched (158.2), strikeouts (157) and quality starts (13)…..he held opponents to a .228 batting average…..Lauer was on the 15-day injured list from 9/10-9/22 with left elbow inflammation…..he came back to end the season with 12.2 consecutive scoreless innings.
CAREER: Is 33-32 with a 4.17 ERA in 112 games/105 starts (559.1ip, 259er)…..is in his sixth Major League season with San Diego (2018-19) and Milwaukee (2020-23)…..was the Padres’ Opening Day starter in 2019…..Lauer was selected by San Diego in the first round (25th overall) of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Kent State University.
CAREER AT AMERICAN FAMILY FIELD: Is 11-8 with a 3.73 ERA in 29 games/28 starts (154.1ip, 64er)…..is 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA in 1 start this season (4ip, 6er)…..went 6-2 with a 2.56 ERA in 13 starts last season (77.1ip, 22er)…..CAREER ON THE ROAD: Is 15-16 with a 4.78 ERA in 56 games/51 starts (267.1ip, 142er)…..is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 1 start this season (5.1ip, 2er)…..went 5-5 with a 4.76 ERA in 16 starts last season (81.1ip, 43er).
CAREER vs. PADRES: Is 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 2 starts, both coming at American Family Field (12ip, 2er)…..he did not receive decisions in a 2-1, 10-inning defeat on 5/26/21 (6ip, 4h, 1r, 1er, 1bb, 6k) and a 6-4, 10-inning defeat on 6/5/22 (6ip, 6h, 3r, 1er, 2bb, 4k, 1bk).
SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Despite Trent Grisham’s game-tying 8th inning homer, the Padres fall 4-3 to the Brewers in 1st game of the 4-game set
• Starter Nick Martinez went 6.0 IP with 3 runs allowed (all earned) on 5 hits, and 2 homers…he punched out 2 and walked 3.
• The Padres bullpen combined for 4.0 innings of 1-hit, scoreless ball, and the Brewers won with the ghost runner at 2B scoring on a Rowdy Tellez sac fly to RF.
• Down 3-1 in the 8th inning, Trent Grisham hit a 2-out, 2-run home run to right-center field to tie the game at 3-3.
Uniform Breakdown: Padres to wear 5 different uni’s in the next 5 days
• Last night, the Padres wore their normal white pinstripes, on Friday, they’ll wear the City Connect uniforms, and on Saturday, every club will wear No. 42 to commemorate the anniversary of April 15, 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke MLB’s color barrier…on Sunday, the Padres will wear their camo jerseys for their Military Appreciation Sunday, and on Monday, the Padres will wear their 1948 replica jerseys from the Pacific Coast League Padres to honor San Diegan Johnny Ritchey breaking the color barrier 75 years ago with the PCL Padres…if you count the Padres’ road pinstripes on Wednesday @ NYM, it’ll be 6 uniforms in 6 days.
Tatis homers 3x last night for Triple-A El Paso, set to return on April 20 @ AZ
• Fernando Tatis Jr. went 5-for-6 last night with 3 homers, a double, and 8 RBI…in 6 games for Triple-A El Paso, he’s hitting .478 (11-for-23).
• Tatis will be eligible to return to the ML team on April 20 (start of a 4-game series @ AZ)…He’ll serve the final 20 games of his suspension from MLB’s Joint Prevention and Treatment Program to start the season after serving 60 G from Aug. 12 through the Padres’ 12-game 2022 Postseason run.
Padres in a stretch of playing 18 games in 18 days; 21 games in 22 days
• San Diego had their 1st off day on Wednesday and will not enjoy their 2nd one until April 24th, playing 18 games in 18 days from April 6-23…their 3rd off day will be on April 28, and since April 6, their current stretch of games are also 21 games in 22 days.
• San Diego is also starting the regular season with 24 games in 25 days…they had 1 off day on April 5, they will have one in Chicago on April 24th, and they’ll have their 1st off day in San Diego on April 28.
Injury Updates
• Joe Musgrove, who was placed on the IL after fracturing his left big toe in mid February, hurt his shoulder making a play on a come backer in his rehab start last week…he’ll throw a bullpen on Friday and will hopefully make his final rehab start next week and join the team after.
• Drew Pomeranz has suffered a neck strain, and he’s still making rehab appearances since having flexor tendon surgery in 2021
TODAY’S STARTER – MICHAEL WACHA 52
Wacha aims to improve to 3-0 on season against familiar foe
31-year-old Michael Wacha strives for his 3rd consecutive win to start his Padres tenure tonight vs. the Brewers, a team he’s made 15 appearances (14 starts) against…he’s yet to get tagged with a loss vs. the Brew Crew in his career, going 6-0 with a 3.38 ERA (28 ER, 74.2 IP) and a .268 opp. AVG. Christian Yelich is 4-for-16 (.250) vs. Yelich with 2 XBH (1 2B, 1 HR) while Jesse Winker is 5-for-15 (.333)…all other Brewers hitters with at least 1 AB vs. Wacha are a combined 2-for-8.
Wacha silences Braves in first road start
Last Sat, April 8 at ATL, Wacha struck out a career-high-tying 10 batters across 6.0-shutout innings of 2-hit ball in SD’s 4-1 victory…he retired the first 10 batters he faced before allowing two hits and walking a batter…his last 10 strikeout performance came on June 9,
2015 @ COL while with STL.
Wacha earns win in Padres debut
Earned the win in his first start in Padres brown and gold Sat, April 1 vs. COL, going scoreless through the first 4 frames before surrendering a combined 4 earned runs in the 5th and 6th as SD went on to win the contest 8-4…it was Wacha’s first matchup vs. an NL West opponent since the 2019 campaign, and he is now 10-9 with a 4.01 ERA (86 ER, 193.0 IP) in his 37 career app. (36 starts) vs. the division.
Welcome to the Pads
Enters his 12th professional season and his 11th big league season in ’23…he owns a career 74-50 record and a 4.05 ERA (519 ER, 1153.2 IP) in 225 ML appearances (204 starts) across 10 seasons for STL (2013-19), NYM (2020), TB (2021) and BOS (2022).
A Wacha in the (Petco) Park
Has made a total of 6 starts at Petco Park, and turned in 5 quality starts, going a combined 4-1 with a 3.16 ERA (13 ER, 37.0 IP)…he earned the winning decision in each of his first 3 starts at Petco from 2015-17, and his Padre debut on April 1 was his first-non QS at Petco.
Fast starts becoming a trend for Wacha?
Having started ’23 with a 2-0 record and a 3.00 ERA, Wacha is aiming to replicate his fast start in ’22 for BOS, when he had a 2.61 ERA through his first 20 starts before allowing 14 runs over 13.1 IP in his final 3 outings…he allowed 2 runs-or-fewer and 4 hits-or-fewer in
each of his first 6 starts last season
Barkeep…order me another 10-plus win season
The 2022 campaign was Wacha’s 3rd season with 10-or-more wins (17 wins in 2015 and 12 in 2017), and it was his 6th season making 20-or-more starts (and the 3rd time in the last three 162-game seasons).
When it matters most
Has made 8 career Postseason appearances (6 starts) between STL (2013-15) and TB (2021)…owns the MLB Postseason rookie records for longest scoreless-innings streak (18.2 IP in 2013) and most strikeouts in a single Postseason (33 in 2013).
Wacha approaching the 10.000 ML service time plateau
Wacha entered the 2023 campaign with 9.062 years of ML service time, which ranked 5th on SD’s Opening Day roster, behind only Nelson Cruz (15.000), Yu Darvish (11.000), Matt Carpenter (10.145) and Manny Machado (10.056)
