After being throttled by Milwaukee’s starting pitching in the first two games of the series, the visiting Miami Marlins will face a different challenge against the Brewers on Wednesday.
Left-hander Braxton Garrett (8-6, 3.82 ERA) will start for the Marlins, while hard-throwing reliever Trevor Megill (1-0, 3.38) will serve as an opener for the Brewers.
Milwaukee took the second game of the series 3-1 on Tuesday night behind Freddy Peralta, who did not give up another run after allowing a leadoff homer to Luis Arraez. The only other hit Peralta yielded was a second-inning single, and he struck out nine and walked none in 6 1/3 innings. Three relievers finished the two-hitter.
The Brewers won the opener 12-0 on Monday as Brandon Woodruff fired a six-hit shutout.
“We’ve faced some tough arms the last couple days,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “We’ve got to get a couple wins here and it starts with (Wednesday).”
Milwaukee (81-63) moved 18 games above .500 for the first time this season. The Brewers, who have won 10 of their past 11 home games, increased their lead to four games in the National League Central over the Chicago Cubs (78-68), who lost 6-4 to the Colorado Rockies.
Miami (74-71) is 1 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks (76-70) in the race for the final NL wild-card spot.
The Brewers got some hoped-for offense from veteran Josh Donaldson, signed Aug. 31 after being released by the Yankees and activated on Monday. He put Milwaukee up 2-1 on Tuesday with his first homer as a Brewer, a 426-foot solo shot off Edward Cabrera in the fourth inning. It was his 11th of the season but first since July 8. Donaldson also singled and walked twice.
“He had a great day for sure,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “Cabrera, clearly he’s got great stuff, and we didn’t have a lot of great swings against him. So just to put a run on the board with one swing, I think that’s what Josh offers here, and that’s why we were interested. So, on a night like tonight, it plays out big.”
Donaldson, who has 277 career homers, batted just .142 in 106 at-bats with the Yankees this year. He also had two lengthy stints on the injured list, due to a hamstring strain and a calf strain.
Megill, who routinely hits 100 mph with his fastball, will be making his first major league start after 93 relief appearances (26 of them this year). It would be the normal starting day for right-hander Colin Rea, who also is likely to pitch Wednesday.
Brewers outfielder Mark Canha, acquired at the trade deadline from the Mets, came out of the Tuesday contest due to left wrist soreness. He is scheduled to see a doctor on Wednesday.
“Right now, it’s day-to-day and we’ll go from there,” Counsell said.
Garrett is 3-3 with a 2.68 ERA over his past eight starts. His last time out, he allowed one run on three hits in 3 2/3 innings with three walks and four strikeouts in a 10-0 defeat against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
Garrett has faced the Brewers once in his career, giving up two runs on seven hits in four innings during a no-decision at Milwaukee last September.
The Marlins are 19-8 in Garrett’s starts this year.
–Field Level Media
