Brewers at Padres
The Milwaukee Brewers are second in the majors in runs scored (203) behind the Washington Nationals and bashed their way to six wins in the last seven contests to pull within one game of first place in the National League Central. The San Diego Padres, who host the Brewers in the opener of a four-game series on Monday, are not quite as potent on offense and sit last in the NL West.
Milwaukee pounded out 29 runs in a three-game sweep of the New York Mets over the weekend, capped by an 11-9 triumph on Sunday in which the Brewers scored 10 runs in the final three innings - capped by Manny Pina's three-run homer in the eighth. "I don't know if I've seen anything like that," Brewers manager Craig Counsell told reporters. "We just kind of chipped away. They answered back. The eighth inning, that was absolutely incredible. Great at-bats by a whole bunch of guys." The Padres are familiar with eighth-inning explosions after watching the Chicago White Sox put eight on the board in the eighth in a 9-3 setback on Sunday. San Diego will turn to Luis Perdomo to try and tame the Milwaukee attack while righty Chase Anderson gets the start for the Brewers.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN San Diego
PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Chase Anderson (2-0, 2.97 ERA) vs. Padres RH Luis Perdomo (0-0, 4.13)
Anderson failed to make it through the fifth inning in either of his last two outings and allowed a total of 10 runs over 15 1/3 innings in his last three starts after yielding three earned runs in 24 innings over his first four outings. The 29-year-old had a string of five straight starts without surrendering a home run come to an end when he served up a solo blast to Jackie Bradley Jr. in a no decision against Boston on Wednesday. Anderson is 3-1 with a 3.60 ERA in six career starts against San Diego.
Perdomo is enjoying a string of three straight quality starts but has nothing to show for it in the win column. The 24-year-old Dominican yielded a total of five earned runs in 18 innings while striking out 17 in his last three turns but did not factor in the decision in any of the three as the Padres went on to suffer one-run losses in each. Perdomo is looking for his first career win against Milwaukee and is 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA in two previous attempts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Brewers 3B Travis Shaw (finger) left Sunday's game in the seventh inning and is day-to-day.
2. San Diego CF Manuel Margot is 5-for-8 with a home run over the last two games.
3. Milwaukee 2B Jonathan Villar is 7-for-17 over his last four games, lifting his batting average from .199 to .222.