After a three-game sweep in Colorado, the Brewers finish up their western road trip with a preview of the future for the Athletics. They are heading to Las Vegas to play three games in the ballpark of the Triple-A affiliate.
Kyle Harrison leads off the rotation for the Brewers in this series. Despite his stellar season, Harrison has had to shine in the shadow of Jacob Misiorowski so far. His last start came against the Giants, where he allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings while striking out 12. That one run came on a solo home run in his final inning. He has faced the Athletics once in his career, and that came with his first appearance with the Red Sox. In that game, he pitched three scoreless innings with two strikeouts, and the only baserunner he allowed was a hit by pitch.
For the Athletics, Jeffrey Springs makes the start. He is in his ninth season in the majors, and his second season with the Athletics. Springs has had an OK year, posting a 4.37 ERA and 4.98 FIP over 13 starts, along with a 7.7 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. He has allowed at least four runs in six of his starts this season, including four of his last five (though one of those had three unearned runs). In his last start, he allowed four runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Cubs, though the Athletics won that game in extra innings. Springs has taken several losses, and the Athletics have only won two of the last nine games he’s started. This is his third career start against the Brewers. They faced him last year in Milwaukee, when they hit him for six runs on five hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings.
Before tonight’s game, the Brewers made a couple of roster moves. Joel Kuhnel has been added to the active roster after being acquired from the Athletics over the weekend. To make a roster space for him, Craig Yoho was optioned back down to Triple-A Nashville. He pitched two good innings on Friday, but will have to wait for another chance later. Also, Jake Woodford cleared waivers and was outrighted to Nashville, but elected to become a free agent instead. Finally, right-handed reliever Carlos Rodriguez, who has been with the Brewers since May 24 but hasn’t appeared since May 30, was placed on the 15-day IL with an undisclosed injury.
After using a Sunday lineup yesterday, the Brewers have most of the regulars back in the lineup. The top five of Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, William Contreras, and Jake Bauers has become standard now, with manager Pat Murphy using that top five for the 10th time in the last 13 games (including tonight). With a left-handed pitcher on the mound, Andrew Vaughn gets the start at first. While Murphy is getting the right-handed batters into the lineup, Garrett Mitchell gets the start since his splits against LHP are much better than Sal Frelick. Luis Rengifo and Joey Ortiz round out the lineup.
First pitch is at 9:05 p.m., with a first pitch temperature forecast of 96 degrees. The game will be on Brewers.TV and the Brewers Radio Network.
