Two of the top pitchers in the National League will go head-to-head when the visiting San Diego Padres face the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.
Right-hander Joe Musgrove (5-0, 1.86 ERA) gets the nod for San Diego, while the Brewers will counter with right-hander Corbin Burnes (3-2, 1.95), the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. Musgrove is fourth in the NL in ERA, followed by Burnes.
The Brewers opened the four-game weekend series with the Padres with an improbable 5-4 comeback victory on Thursday night. Milwaukee scored four runs in the ninth against Padres closer Taylor Rogers, who did not retire any of the four batters he faced.
Jace Peterson tied it 4-4 with a bases-loaded triple off the wall in right center. Nabil Crismatt came on for Rogers, and Andrew McCutchen, hitless in his previous 32 at-bats, and delivered a walk-off single to center.
It was the 14th come-from-behind victory for the Brewers, who had been 2-17 when trailing after eight innings. The Padres lost a season-high fourth straight.
Musgrove has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his nine starts, pitching at least six innings each time. He allowed just one run on six hits in six innings, but did not get a decision in a 4-2 loss to the Pirates, who won with a three-run homer off Rogers in the ninth.
“He certainly pitched well enough to earn a win,” Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer said after Musgrove’s last start. “It’s definitely deflating as an offense when your guy goes out there and throws the ball well, especially Joe. He’s been doing it for a while now.”
Musgrove is 0-3 in seven career starts against the Brewers, with no decision in two games at Milwaukee.
Rogers has taken the loss in each of his last three outings and is 0-3 with a 10.50 ERA in his last seven games.
Burnes has turned in quality starts in eight of his 10 outings. In his last start against St. Louis, he allowed just two hits over seven scoreless innings, striking out 11 and walking one — his fourth double-digit strikeout effort of the season.
“He obviously pitched really well,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said after that game. “His cutter was moving a lot; it had a lot of horizontal movement on it. You could just tell by the back-door pitches he made and got takes. The lefties kind of swung over it. His slider was good day today, too. I thought his slider got some outs and slowed hitters down. It’s a big-time performance when we need it.”
Burnes is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA in five career games, including three starts, against the Padres. He won at San Diego on May 24, allowing one run on five hits in six innings in the Brewers’ 4-1 victory.
The injury situation continues to mount for the Brewers with catcher Omar Narvaez placed on the COVID-19 injured list on Thursday. Starting pitchers Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff are on the 15-day IL, as are shortstop Willy Adames, outfielder Hunter Renfroe, and relievers Jandal Gustave and Luis Perdomo.
Alex Hall, a reserve catcher at nearby Class-A Appleton, was quickly brought up Thursday. Adames made a rehab start Thursday at Triple-A Nashville, going 1-for-3.
–Field Level Media
