After starting the second half of the season with a three-game sweep at Cincinnati, the Milwaukee Brewers haven’t brought out their brooms since.
They’ll try on Sunday afternoon against the host Chicago White Sox after claiming the first two games of the weekend interleague series in comeback fashion.
Milwaukee used a three-run seventh inning on Saturday to prevail 3-2. One night earlier, the Brewers overcame a 5-2 deficit to win 7-6 in 10 innings.
With the win Saturday, Milwaukee maintained a 2 1/2-game lead over the second-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central while moving three games ahead of the Reds, whose game at Pittsburgh was postponed due to inclement weather.
Snug stretch runs are nothing new for the Brewers, who have notched one-run victories in each game of their current three-game winning streak.
“Frankly, I think it helps us now, when we’ve been given the feedback the last week of the season that every single game before that really mattered,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said, reflecting on past seasons. “And I think that’s where it does good for us. We’ve played the last six years of baseball down to the last two games of the year.”
Right-hander Freddy Peralta (8-8, 4.28 ERA) will try to earn his third straight victory as he gets the call for Milwaukee.
Peralta has recorded 13 strikeouts in two of his past three starts, including Monday’s home win against Colorado, when he gave up one solo home run in an otherwise sterling seven innings.
“Everyone knows that I love the strikeouts,” Peralta said.
Chicago, which had won two straight series for the first time in two months before the Brewers arrived at Guaranteed Rate Field, will try to salvage the finale of a six-game homestand.
Yoan Moncada and Gavin Sheets both had two hits for the White Sox on Saturday night, but the rest of the club combined for just one. Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff held Chicago in check before three relievers combined to give up only one hit.
All-Star center fielder Luis Robert Jr. has made one pinch-running appearance in the series. He sprained the pinky finger in his right hand during Wednesday’s win against the New York Yankees.
Right-hander Dylan Cease will try to bookend Chicago’s homestand with victories. He defeated the Yankees on Monday with 5 1/3 effectively wild shutout innings. Cease (5-5, 4.42 ERA) scattered one hit, seven walks and six strikeouts to win for the first time since July 16.
“Every once in a while, games like that happen,” Cease said. “But I feel, especially after the third [inning], I feel like I kind of got locked in. I feel good going forward. It wasn’t very pretty, but it got the job done.”
Peralta has pitched seven scoreless innings against the White Sox over two career appearances, including one start, with 11 strikeouts over that span.
Cease hasn’t faced the Brewers in his career. In 20 interleague starts, he is 7-7 with a 3.34 ERA.
–Field Level Media
