Yesterday’s doubleheader did not go the way the Milwaukee Brewers were hoping, as the Chicago Cubs swept both games to take a 2-1 series lead in this rare regular-season five-gamer. Maybe a stomach bug had something to do with it, as Adam McCalvy noted last night that more than one Brewer was dealing with gastrointestinal issues.
The Brewers will send Jacob Misiorowski to the mound tonight to try to even the series, while the Cubs will counter with former Brewer Colin Rea. Miz struggled in his last outing, which was his first competitive appearance of any kind in two-and-a-half weeks. In just 1 1/3 innings against the Reds, Misiorowski allowed five earned runs on four hits and three walks, but his offense picked him up in a big way — that’s the game in which the Brewers came back from an 8-1 deficit to win 10-8. Hopefully, Misiorowski will be more comfortable out there tonight.
Rea is doing Colin Rea things. As Brewer fans will surely remember, he’s working with a so-so arsenal and, as he did in two years up I-94, he’s outperforming his metrics by quite a bit. This season, Rea is 9-5 with a 3.99 ERA in 121 2/3 innings, but his FIP is just 4.61 and he’s striking out just 6.7 batters per nine innings, a career low in a season with more than a handful of innings. But he’s doing what he always did in Milwaukee, and letting the very good defense behind him go to work. The Brewers beat Rea up a bit in a meeting earlier this season, when they got him for four runs on nine hits in just four innings in a 9-3 win on July 29. They’ll look to repeat that performance to bounce back from last night’s sub-optimal offensive showing.
Joey Ortiz, who left last night’s game with an apparent injury to his knee, was expected to be held out of the lineup tonight. But he’s made it onto Pat Murphy’s lineup card. Anthony Seigler, who has looked good lately, also starts tonight at third base. Christian Yelich will be the designated hitter, with Isaac Collins, Blake Perkins, and Sal Frelick in the outfield.
Update: There was also a late roster move. After the doubleheader yesterday and what will presumably be another short-ish start from Misiorowski tonight (planned or otherwise), the Brewers have optioned Tobias Myers — who has looked really good lately, frankly — and recalled Carlos Rodriguez. Chad Patrick, the 27th man for yesterday’s doubleheader, has been returned to Nashville. One would suspect that Myers will be back as soon as he is eligible, unless Logan Henderson gets healthy first.
Tonight’s first pitch from Wrigley Field is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network.
