Brewers at Rays
The Milwaukee Brewers looked as though they were fading out of the picture in the National League Central at the end of last week but are now on the verge of vaulting back into first place. The Brewers go for their fourth win in five games Saturday when they visit the Tampa Bay Rays for the second of a three-game interleague series, standing a mere one-half game behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the division.
Milwaukee shortstop Orlando Arcia is 6-for-10 in his last three contests and notched three hits on his 23rd birthday in Friday’s 2-0 victory, while the Brewers have allowed just eight runs in the last four games after earning their 1,500th win since joining the NL in 1998. Zach Davies tries to stay unbeaten on the road this season (6-0, 2.80 ERA) when he takes the mound for Milwaukee on Saturday against fellow right-hander Alex Cobb, who is coming off one of his worst starts of the season. The Rays failed to take advantage of a chance to move into the second wild-card spot in the American League after winning three straight contests at Houston but trail Kansas City by only one-half game. Tampa Bay’s Logan Morrison has warmed up again after a rough end to July, going 7-for-17 with a pair of homers and four RBIs in four August outings.
TV: 6:10 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN Sun (Tampa Bay)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Zach Davies (12-5, 4.42 ERA) vs. Rays RH Alex Cobb (9-7, 3.89)
Davies saw his five-game winning streak come to an end Sunday against the Cubs despite allowing just three runs on seven hits over seven innings with six strikeouts. The 24-year-old had gone 5-0 in his previous six outings while yielding 11 earned runs over 39 innings, including only a pair of homers. Wilson Ramos is 3-for-6 versus Davies, who faces Tampa Bay for the first time and is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two career interleague starts.
Cobb had posted eight quality starts in nine games before producing his shortest outing of the season Monday when he surrendered eight runs in three frames at Houston. The 29-year-old Bostonian allowed two or fewer runs in seven of his previous nine starts while winning five of six decisions. Cobb yielded one run over eight innings in his only meeting with Milwaukee in 2014 and is 9-3 with a 2.56 ERA in 15 interleague starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tampa Bay OF Mallex Smith had a pair of hits Friday to extend his hitting streak to seven games, during which he is 8-for-22.
2. Milwaukee optioned OF Lewis Brinson to Triple-A Colorado Springs and placed C Jett Bandy (ribs) on the disabled list while recalling C Andrew Susac before the series opener.
3. The Rays recalled LHP Jose Alvarado from Triple-A Durham and activated INF Daniel Robertson on Friday and optioned LHP Blake Snell, along with INF Taylor Featherson, to Durham.