Game Thread #49: Milwaukee Brewers (23-25) vs. Baltimore Orioles (15-31)

The Brewers haven’t won a series since May 5-7 against the Houston Astros, having lost their last three three-game sets against the Rays, Guardians, and Twins. Milwaukee will have two chances to right that ship, as they took game one of their current three-game series with the disappointing Baltimore Orioles, whose season has gone into a nose dive.

After a dramatic victory last night, the Brewers will turn to Logan Henderson for his third career start. The first two have gone quite well: in two starts (April 20 versus the Athletics and May 14 versus the Guardians), he’s gone 11 innings, allowed three runs, struck out 16, and walked only two. Combine that with his impressive numbers at Triple-A Nashville this season, and Henderson has been one of the stars of the organization’s season so far.

Baltimore will counter with Keegan Akin, the 30-year-old lefty. He’s in his sixth season with Baltimore, but that time has been marked by inconsistency: in his career so far, he’s got three seasons with an ERA+ of 116 or higher (including this season) and two with an ERA+ of 67 or lower. Akin will be functioning as an opener for the Orioles tonight, which he’s done on one other occasion this season; he has 21 appearances but only 22 innings pitched, and that previous start went only 1 2⁄3 innings. Akin is likely to be followed by Chayce McDermott, who started the second game of a doubleheader last Wednesday and allowed four runs in three innings.

Isaac Collins gets the start in left field for the second night in a row, and Joey Ortiz is back in the lineup after being used as a pinch runner and defensive replacement last night. The Brewers continue to tinker with their lineup, as William Contreras and Jackson Chourio are flipped from last night’s game, with Contreras (who had four hits last night) third and Chourio second.

Tonight’s game starts at 6:40 p.m. and can be seen on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and also over the air on FOX 6, along with several other over-the-air stations across the state. As always, find them on the Brewers Radio Network as well.