The Milwaukee Brewers will head to Wrigley Field with momentum on their side after beating the San Diego Padres, 4-2, on Thursday. Eric Sogard had his second four-hit game in three days and drove in three runs to lead the Brewers to their third consecutive win. He is hitting .476 (10 for 21) with two homers since he was called up from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Friday. Sogard went 9 for 15 in the four-game series against San Diego.
Pitching for the Brewers in the series opener against the Cubs is Paolo Espino. The 30-year-old was signed by Milwaukee in the offseason as a minor-league free agent and will be making his major-league debut today. He has pitched 291 games in the minors, with 191 starts. Espino has been tremendous in the minors this campaign, posting a 4-0 record with a 2.54 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over 39 innings in seven starts with the Colorado Springs this season. Espino has walked just five batters while striking out 40 during that span.
The Brewers are 4-1 in their last five road games.
Another team that’s heating up at the moment is the Chicago Cubs. The defending champions extended their winning streak to three games with a comprehensive 9-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. Javier Baez hit a grand slam while Kris Bryant homered to propel the Cubs to the series sweep. The Cubs’ offense finally awakened in this series as they outscored the Reds, 25-15. The Cubs have now won 23 of their last 28 games against the Reds.
Things are bound to get tougher, though, for the Cubs as standing in their way in their next series are the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers have started the season like a house on fire, leading the NL Central by one game. Offense has been the main calling card for Milwaukee this season, leading the majors in homers with 65. They have also recorded a whopping 212 RBIs this season, second-highest in the majors.
The one tasked to stop the red-hot Milwaukee bats this afternoon is Eddie Butler (1-0, 0.00 ERA). He will be making his first start at Wrigley Field as a Cub today. Butler was sensational in his season debut against the Cardinals last Friday, throwing six shutout innings in a 3-2 victory. That was Butler’s first win since May 14 last year with Colorado.
The total has gone over in the Cubs’ last five home games.
