The surging Milwaukee Brewers will have to solve longtime nemesis Michael Wacha to complete a sweep of the visiting San Diego Padres on Sunday in the finale of their three-game series.
Wacha (10-2, 2.63 ERA) will be opposed by Milwaukee’s Adrian Houser (5-4, 4.28) in a matchup of right-handers.
The National League Central-leading Brewers held on for a 5-4 victory over the Padres on Saturday night to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games and remain four games in front of the second-place Chicago Cubs, who won 10-6 at Pittsburgh.
Milwaukee, now a season-best 15 games over .500, will head to Chicago on Monday to open a three-game series vs. the Cubs.
Milwaukee scored all five of its runs in the fifth inning Saturday, keyed by William Contreras’ two-run double. Freddy Peralta allowed two runs on two hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out nine.
After the Padres pulled within 5-4 on Juan Soto’s 25th homer, a two-run shot in the eighth, Devin Williams preserved the Brewers‘ win with a perfect ninth for his 31st save in 34 chances.
San Diego dropped to a season-low eight games below .500 for the third time this season. The Padres have not been nine or more games under .500 since they were 70-92 at the end of the 2019 season.
“Every loss feels worse. I mean, we know where we are, we know how many games are left, we know what’s in front of us.” Padres manager Bob Melvin said after Saturday’s game. “Every loss feels worse.
“Today, after being down like that, coming back, we had a pretty good feeling in our dugout. Two guys in the eighth and ninth pitched pretty well, we got the guy in the eighth, couldn’t get the guy in the ninth.”
The Padres also fell to 6-20 in one-run games this season.
Wacha is 5-1 with a 1.40 ERA in his last seven starts, sandwiched around a stint on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. He is 2-0 with an 0.87 ERA in two starts since coming off the IL, allowing one earned run in 10 1/3 innings.
Wacha is 6-1 with a 3.99 ERA in 16 career games, including 15 starts, against the Brewers. He faced Milwaukee once this season and was tagged for seven runs on 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings in an 11-2 loss at San Diego on April 14.
Milwaukee improved to 59-14 when scoring four or more runs, compared with 13-43 when scoring three or less. The Brewers have scored at least five runs in each of their past seven games.
“For sure it’s fun,” Brewers infielder Andruw Monasterio told Bally Sports in an on-field interview after Saturday’s win. “We’re trying to win every day. We’re trying to make the playoffs and bring the playoffs to Milwaukee to these fans. That’s what it’s all about.”
Houser is coming off a solid outing, giving up one run on six hits in five innings to notch the win in a 6-2 victory at Texas last Sunday. He is 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA in four starts in August after going 0-1 with a 5.66 ERA in four starts in July.
Houser is 0-1 with a 1.86 ERA in six career outings, including five starts, against the Padres. He had two starts last season vs. San Diego without a decision but allowed just two earned runs in 11 innings.
Contreras is batting .364 (8-for-22) during his current six-game hitting streak with three doubles, a homer, seven RBIs, six walks and nine runs.
—Field Level Media
