Brewers at Phillies
A surprisingly promising start for the Philadelphia Phillies has turned around in the last few weeks with the offense taking a tumble and the team dropping below .500. The Phillies will try to avoid a fifth consecutive losing series when they host the Milwaukee Brewers in the finale of a four-game set on Sunday.
Philadelphia snapped a seven-game slide with a 6-3 triumph on Friday but had the bats go cold again while dropping a 6-3 decision on Saturday. The Phillies are averaging 1.9 runs in their last eight losses and managed three hits after the second inning on Saturday as they squandered an early 3-1 lead. Milwaukee right fielder Domingo Santana belted a tie-breaking homer in the eighth inning and Jonathan Villar stayed hot as the Brewers picked up their third win in four games. Villar led off the game with a home run and has homered in each of the first three games of the series while going 6-for-13 with six RBIs.
TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), CSN Philadelphia
PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Wily Peralta (3-6, 6.51 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Aaron Nola (4-4, 2.88)
Peralta is struggling to work deep into games and failed to complete six innings in any of his last four starts. The 27-year-old Dominican went five frames against the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday and was reached for three runs on nine hits and a pair of walks to suffer the loss. One of Peralta’s two six-inning stints on the season came at home against Philadelphia on April 24, when he allowed four runs – three earned – on seven hits in six frames to pick up a win.
Nola has gone at least six innings in all but one of his 11 starts and surrendered three or fewer earned runs in eight straight. The LSU product was a tough-luck loser on Tuesday, when he was reached for two runs on a pair of solo home runs in six innings while striking out six in a game the Phillies went on to lose 5-1. Nola was sharp at Milwaukee on April 22, yielding one run on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out seven in as many innings to pick up the win.
WALK-OFFS
1. Villar scored at least one run in five straight games and 12 in the last 10 contests.
2. Philadelphia SS Freddy Galvis is 0-for-14 over his last four games.
3. Milwaukee C Jonathan Lucroy is 15-for-29 with 11 RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak.