Reds at Brewers
THE STORY: Having lost five of seven to fall under .500, the Cincinnati Reds will ask leading winner Mike Leake to stop their slide in Milwaukee on Friday night. The Brewers took the series opener 5-4 on Thursday, earning their major league-best 31st home win and moving into a first-place tie with St. Louis. Milwaukee could get slugger Ryan Braun back in the lineup this weekend. He’s missed five straight games with an upper-left calf strain.
TV: 8:10 p.m., FSN, FS-O
PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Zack Greinke (7-3, 5.66 ERA) vs. Reds RH Mike Leake (8-4, 4.03 ERA).
Greinke hasn’t delivered on his big free-agent contract – yet. He’s yielded 11 runs in his last two starts covering eight innings. However, he’s striking out plenty of batters (38 in his last five starts) and opponents are hitting just .258. It appears a matter of when, not if, he’ll get better results. Leake has gone at least six innings in eight straight starts and he’s been outstanding on the road: 3-1, 2.73 ERA. But Yuniesky Betancourt is 4-for-5 and Nyjer Morgan is 4-for-8 against Leake.
ABOUT THE BREWERS (47-42): The Brewers have recovered to win two straight after losing seven of eight. Milwaukee ranks second in the NL in slugging percentage (.418) and leads the league with 101 homers, one ahead of Arizona. Prince Fielder, one of three All-Stars, is 6-for-14 over his last four games and is tied with Philly’s Ryan Howard for the NL’s RBI lead at 71.
ABOUT THE REDS (44-45): Cincinnati went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position in Thursday’s loss. One of the NL’s best attacks has stalled this week in critical series against its biggest division rivals. In his first major league game, highly touted shortstop Zack Cozart singled, scored a run and saved another with a defensive gem. But he also hit into a rally-killing double play.
FINAL PITCH: With Reds starter Edinson Volquez headed to Triple-A Louisville to work on his command, Dontrelle Willis is expected to start Sunday. The 29-year-old lefty went 5-2 with a 2.63 ERA with Louisville. … Cincinnati still leads the season series 7-3. … The Brewers will start Yovani Gallardo, a 10-game winner, when they open the second half next Thursday at Colorado.