Phillies at Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers let their loud bats do the talking last weekend en route to taking two of three from the Philadelphia Phillies. The National League Central-leading Brewers (41-27) then benefited from a pair of shutouts in their next series to give them even more momentum heading into Friday's opener of a three-game set versus the visiting Phillies (35-31).
Lorenzo Cain provided the lone offense in Milwaukee's 1-0 triumph over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, giving him 13 hits in his last eight contests - with five coming versus Philadelphia last week. The 32-year-old had a pair of doubles and three RBIs in that series and is 3-for-6 in his career against Friday starter Jake Arrieta. While the Brewers outscored the Phillies by a 27-11 margin last week, Philadelphia flexed its offensive muscle on Thursday afternoon in its 9-3 triumph over Colorado to mark its first series win since taking two of three from Atlanta on May 21-23. Rhys Hoskins fell a triple shy of the cycle in that contest and belted a three-run homer off Friday starter Brent Suter in their last encounter, a 12-3 Brewers' romp last Saturday.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, NBCS Philadelphia, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies RH Jake Arrieta (5-4, 2.97 ERA) vs. Brewers LH Brent Suter (6-4, 4.61)
Arrieta boasts a sterling 3-0 mark with a 2.03 ERA in five career starts at Miller Park, although last Saturday's encounter with the Brewers at Citizens Bank Park didn't go so well. The 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner allowed five runs for the second straight outing in addition to issuing three walks over 5 1/3 innings in the blowout. Prior to the two offensive outbursts, Arrieta had permitted more than two earned runs on one occasion this season.
Suter improved to 4-1 in his last five starts on Saturday after yielding three runs on four hits in five innings. The 28-year-old is expected to benefit from six days of rest in his return match versus the Phillies, against whom he sports an 0.91 WHIP while limiting the club to a .217 batting average in two career starts. Odubel Herrera has fared well in the small sample size versus Suter, going 2-for-4 with a solo homer.
WALK-OFFS
1. Philadelphia OF Nick Williams homered among his two hits in Thursday's win, but went 1-for-10 with three strikeouts in last weekend's series versus Milwaukee.
2. Brewers OF Ryan Braun erupted for six hits with two homers, seven RBIs and six runs scored in the previous series against the Phillies.
3. Philadelphia 2B Cesar Hernandez went 5-for-11 with two runs scored in the previous series versus Milwaukee.