Phillies at Brewers
The Philadelphia Phillies and the host Milwaukee Brewers have a chance to be on different sides of their first sweeps of 2016 when the teams collide Sunday. The Phillies can clinch their first sweep of the season behind promising pitcher Jerad Eickhoff, while Wily Peralta will aim to help the Brewers avoid their first series sweep of the campaign.
Philadelphia posted a 5-2 triumph on Friday before notching a 10-6 victory on Saturday, recording a season high for runs scored in the process. Maikel Franco went 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs on Saturday, and is 6-for-9 with three home runs and seven RBIs in the series. Odubel Herrera homered and scored four times on Saturday for the Phillies (9-9), who are hoping to move above .500 for the first time this season. The Brewers lost six of their last eight and have gone 12 straight games without allowing fewer than four runs.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, CSN (Philadelphia), FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies RH Jerad Eickhoff (1-2, 1.89 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Wily Peralta (0-3, 8.35)
Opponents are batting just .197 this season against Eickhoff, who has 18 strikeouts and three walks in his last two outings. Kirk Nieuwenhuis is the only active Milwaukee player who has faced Eickhoff, going 2-for-3 with two doubles as a member of the New York Mets last year. When Eickhoff gets ahead 0-2 this season, he has struck out nine of the 10 batters he has faced.
Peralta has followed up the worst season of his career with a brutal start to the current campaign, as he has not logged more than five innings in any of his first four starts. He gave up two runs in five frames Tuesday in Minnesota in what was by far his best start of 2016, yet he still gave up five hits and four walks in the eventual no-decision. Lefties and righties are each hitting at least .340 against Peralta, who has limited Philadelphia infielders Freddy Galvis and Ryan Howard to a combined 2-for-17 in his career.
WALK-OFFS
1. No current Phillies player has ever homered against Peralta.
2. Philadelphia had lost seven straight meetings with Milwaukee entering this series.
3. Brewers OF Ryan Braun has hit safely in six straight games, during which he is 11-for-21 with five walks.