Brewers at Yankees
The Milwaukee Brewers will try to keep alive their longest winning streak of the season when they continue a three-game series at the New York Yankees on Saturday. The Brewers followed up an 11-2 rout of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Thursday with a 9-4 victory over the Yankees in the series opener.
Milwaukee has won five in a row and eight of nine to open up a 4 1/2-game lead in the National League Central, and they are averaging seven runs a game during the 8-1 surge. Jesus Aguilar had a pair of homers - including the tiebreaking grand slam in the seventh inning - in Friday's win, and his franchise record-tying seven RBIs helped Milwaukee snap a 10-game losing streak in Yankee Stadium. New York had a 4-2 lead in the opener before its beleaguered bullpen gave up seven runs in 4 2/3 innings to contribute to the club's 17th loss in 23 games. The Yankees will be hoping that young right-hander Luis Severino breaks out of his mini-slump as he opposes Brewers southpaw Brent Suter.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), YES (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers LH Brent Suter (1-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Luis Severino (5-4, 3.52)
Suter's second start of the season with the Brewers was an outstanding one, as he allowed one unearned run and four hits while striking out eight in six innings against Baltimore on Monday. He has 13 strikeouts in nine frames over his last three outings (one start). The 27-year-old, who has never faced the Yankees, owns a 4.79 ERA in 10 career games (three starts) on the road, compared to 1.64 at home.
Severino has given up at least four runs in three of his last four starts, including a rocky showing at Houston on Sunday in which he was reached for six runs in 5 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old does have 24 strikeouts against only three walks over a span of three outings, and he entered Friday ranked fourth among qualified hurlers in the American League in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.56). Severino is 2-0 with a 0.47 ERA in four games (two starts) in interleague play, allowing 10 hits in 19 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Yankees RF Aaron Judge slugged his major league-leading 30th home run Friday to set a new franchise record for rookies.
2. Milwaukee IF/OF Hernan Perez is 6-for-11 over his last three games.
3. The Brewers (49-40) are nine games over .500 for the first time since Sept. 1, 2014.