Game Thread #96: Milwaukee Brewers (54-41) vs. Washington Nationals (43-52)

Brewers offense hoping to bounce back after Friday’s loss

The Milwaukee Brewers’ offense stunk in the first game of their series with the Washington Nationals on Friday night. They managed just four hits—three of them from Sal Frelick—and two runs despite facing a pitcher who had an ERA of 6.66 at Triple-A making his first major-league start of the season. Washington, on the other hand, managed 12 hits, 10 of them in the first five innings off of Brewers starter Freddy Peralta.

Today, they’ll turn to crafty veteran Dallas Keuchel, who has managed to turn in two solid starts in a row, most recently when he pitched 4 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings against the Dodgers in a 9-2 victory last Sunday. Keuchel’s game plan after his first outing has appeared to be to stay as far from the center of the plate as possible, so his walks are up, but players are having a difficult time squaring him up.

The Brewers’ struggling offense will need to find a way to do some damage against rookie Mitchell Parker, who has been flying under the radar a bit but has put together a very solid season. In 16 starts (91 ²⁄₃ innings) Parker has a 3.44 ERA (116 ERA+) and 3.91 FIP, and he has done an excellent job limiting walks with just 19 in those 91-plus innings. The one area he’s struggled a bit is that he’s been a bit susceptible to the home run ball, but on the whole, he’s done an excellent job so far.

Christian Yelich has the afternoon off today against the lefty Parker, as Jackson Chourio, Joey Ortiz, and William Contreras will top the order.

First pitch is at 3:10 p.m. on Bally Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.