NL Central Showdown: Milwaukee Brewers vs. Cincinnati Reds Series Preview

This week features a National League Central showdown of playoff hopefuls as the Milwaukee Brewers (33-26) take on the Cincinnati Reds (28-29).

This is a matchup of the two hottest teams in the NL Central. The Brewers have gone 9-1 in their last ten games, while the Reds have gone 7-3 in that same stretch.

This will be a three-game series between the two teams hosted by Cincinnati at the Great American Ballpark starting on Tuesday.

The Brewers come into this one off of a four-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In their last contest, a 2-0 win on Sunday, Corbin Burnes pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 13. Also in the win, the Brewers got solo home runs from Daniel Robertson and Tyrone Taylor.

Cincinnati also had a four-game sweep over the weekend, taking the series against St. Louis. In the 8-7 win on Sunday, Jesse Winker had his second three-home run game of the season. He had six runs batted in on the day.

Schedule

The Schedule for the three-game series at the Great American Ballpark is as follows:

• Tuesday, June 8 – 7:10 pm ET
• Wednesday, June 9 – 7:10 pm ET
• Thursday, June 10 – 12:35 pm ET

Pitching Matchup

Here is the pitching matchup for each game of the series:

• Tuesday: Adrian Houser (3-5, 3.86 ERA) vs. Sonny Gray (1-4, 3.64 ERA)
• Wednesday: Brett Anderson (2-3, 4.42 ERA) vs. Vladimir Gutierrez (1-1, 2.70 ERA)
• Thursday: Freddy Peralta (6-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. Luis Castillo (2-8, 6.63 ERA)

Looking At The Odds

After their last ten games, the Brewers have taken over as the favorites to win the division at +120. Cincinnati is +1200 to win the division, the fourth-best odds in the NL Central.

In terms of winning the World Series, the Brewers are +2200 to do so while the Cincinnati Reds are +7000.

By The Numbers

Offensively, Cincinnati holds a big advantage this season. They currently rank fifth overall averaging 4.95 runs per game. The Brewers fall to 22nd averaging 3.92 runs.

Defensively, it is Milwaukee with the edge. They rank ninth in runs allowed per game at 3.98. The Reds rank dead last, allowing opponents 5.33 runs per game.

Brewers Look To Stay Hot On The Road

In the last ten games, the Milwaukee Brewers have been the hottest team in baseball. On Tuesday, they will take a solid road record (16-11) to Cincinnati and will try to keep it going as they look to take the division lead outright.

Leading the way offensively for the Brewers has been Avisail Garcia. He currently leads the team in home runs (11), runs batted in (32), and runs scored (28). On the season, he is hitting .242/.312/.456. 

Also, keep an eye on outfielder Tyrone Taylor in this series. He has been the hottest hitter for the Brewers over the last week, hitting .308/.308/1.000 with three home runs and five runs batted in during that span.

Reds Need To Play Better At Home

While the Reds have played well as of late (7-3), they still need to find a way to play better at the Great American Ballpark this season. To date, they are just 12-14 when playing at home, and that has been a huge reason that they currently sit four games out of first place.

Offensively, leading the way for the Reds is outfielder Jesse Winker. He has been sensational this season, hitting .350/.412/.665 with a team-leading 17 home runs and 44 runs scored. He is also second in runs batted in with 37.

As thrilled as Reds’ fans have been with Winker, they have been equally disappointed in Eugenio Suarez. While he has 13 home runs and 30 runs batted in, the infielder is hitting just .162/.234/.375 on the season.

Brewers Hot, But Reds Miss Big Two

The Reds have to feel fortunate that they are facing the Brewers three times this week and will avoid both Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff. After catching that break, the question will be whether they can take advantage of it or not.

Cincinnati will need their pitching staff to do their jobs, but if they can, expect the Reds to have opportunities to score and to come away with a series win.