After taking two of three from the Padres and enjoying an off day, the Dodgers now are in Milwaukee to start a three-game set with the Brewers.
Milwaukee leads the NL Central by 1.5 games over the Chicago Cubs. They have been winning games, but not by hitting a lot of home runs. They have the fewest homers of any team in MLB so far this season, with 33. Aside from the Tampa Bay Rays, the next three teams behind them all are at the bottoms of their divisions. They also have the fewest total extra base hits in the majors, and have the highest ground-ball rate in all of MLB.
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They are doing it by getting men on base by taking their walks and putting balls in play. They have the fourth lowest strike out rate and are tied for third in on base percentage. Then once those batters are on base, they excel at steals and sacrifice bunts and have the fourth highest batting average as a team with runners in scoring position.
The Brewers are coming off a three-game sweep of their rival Chicago Cubs in Wrigley, taking the divisional lead. Their top three power hitters have missed significant time this season to injury, but all three, Christian Yelich, Jackson Churio and Andrew Vaughn, are back in the lineup.
Milwaukee also has a top-notch pitching staff, and the Dodgers are maybe lucky to be missing Jacob Misorowski in this series.
On Friday the Brewers will send Logan Henderson to the mound. Since returning from Triple-A, Henderson has allowed two or fewer runs and gone at least five innings in those three outings. Cumulatively he has struck out 20 and only walked two in those appearances also.
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The Dodgers will counter with Justin Wrobleski, who has gone 4-0 on the road with a 1.50 ERA. He has gone at least six innings in his last six starts, including his last outing against the Angels in Anaheim. Wrobleski, who does not get a lot of swings as misses, is facing a team that as aforementioned, doesn’t strike out and puts a lot of ball in play.
With the off day, the Dodgers bullpen will be well rested. The Dodgers offense still isn’t putting up great offensive numbers consistently but still managed to take two of three in San Diego. The offense will have to keep battling in this series against the Brewers.
Friday game info
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Teams: Dodgers at Brewers
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Ballpark: American Family Field, Milwaukee
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TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
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Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)
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