After rallying for their first late-inning comeback victory of the season, the Milwaukee Brewers will look to bring that momentum home when they host the Boston Red Sox on Monday afternoon in the opener of a three-game series.
Rookie right-hander Chad Patrick (2-4, 3.23 ERA) starts for the Brewers, opposed by ace left-hander Garrett Crochet (4-3, 1.98).
The Brewers salvaged a split of their four-game series at Pittsburgh on Sunday, rallying with three runs in the eighth for a 6-5 victory. Brice Turang, who had just one hit in his previous 19 at-bats in the series, doubled in the go-ahead run.
It was the first multi-run comeback for the Brewers this season, who had been 0-23 when trailing after seven innings.
Boston settled for a split of a four-games series at home against Baltimore after dropping the final two games, including a 5-1 setback Sunday.
Patrick will be making his 12th appearance and 11th start of the season. In his most recent start, Patrick allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings but did not get the decision in an 8-4, 11-inning home loss to Baltimore.
Patrick’s ERA in May is more than double what it was in April. He was 1-2 with a 1.82 ERA in five starts in April but is 1-2 with a 3.95 ERA in five starts this month. Opponents are batting .255 against Patrick with four homers this season.
Turang’s average has dropped from .311 on May 1 to .269.
“You hit balls hard, you’re out. You feel like every ball you hit hard is right to someone,” Turang said Sunday. “Every ball you don’t hit hard is right to somebody. But you’ve just got to keep moving forward, because the more you try, you can go down a big rabbit hole. I feel good, I feel really comfortable at the plate. I’m hitting balls hard — just right to people.”
Crochet, who ranks fifth in the American League in ERA, has allowed more than two earned runs in just one of his 11 starts. In four starts in May, he is 1-1 with a 1.85 ERA, allowing five earned runs in 24 1/3 innings.
In his previous start, Crochet allowed just one run on five hits in 5 1/3 innings against the New York Mets on Wednesday, but was pulled in a tie game after throwing 85 pitches.
“It’s not tough,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said afterward. “It’s for the benefit of the player. We’re here for the long run, and we need that guy to make his starts. For us to go to where we feel we can go, we need him.”
Crochet has faced the Brewers just once in his career, allowing one run in six innings last season when he was with the White Sox in a no-decision during a 4-3 loss in 10 innings.
The Red Sox made several roster moves over the weekend, including placing third baseman Alex Bregman on the 10-day injured list with a right quad strain.
Boston promoted top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer, who started at third base and batted sixth in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. After going 0-for-4 in his debut on Saturday, Mayer went 2-for-4 with a double on Sunday.
–Field Level Media
