Milwaukee @ Los Angeles preview
Angel Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 15, 2010 ) Milwaukee 7, LA Angels 1
The Milwaukee Brewers are flexing their offensive muscles as the Los Angeles Angels continue to shed players due to injury.
The Brewers will be looking to pound the short-handed Angels again when the teams close out a three-game series on Wednesday.
Corey Hart and Ryan Braun have driven in five runs apiece and Prince Fielder and Casey McGehee have homered already in the series, making Angels starters Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana look rather ordinary.
Milwaukee has outscored the Angels 19-3 in the series after a 12-2 pasting in the opener on Monday and a 7-1 thrashing on Tuesday.
Perhaps more impressive than the offense has been the starting pitching for the Brewers, which owns the 15th -ranked rotation in the 16-team National League. Randy Wolf snapped a string of horrible outings with seven strong innings Monday and Dave Bush managed his longest start of the season with 7 1/3 frames on Tuesday.
Part of the reason for Milwaukee’s ease could be a Los Angeles lineup that has lost its key slugger in Kendry Morales and is now without shortstop Erick Aybar, who hyperextended his knee in Monday’s contest.
Left-hander Chris Narveson will get the call for the Brewers in the series finale. The converted reliever is coming off his best outing of the season last Friday against an American League team, when he held the Texas Rangers to two runs and six hits in seven innings to earn the win.
Narveson, 29, was pressed into the rotation when Doug Davis went down and Jeff Suppan was let go and has gone 4-3 with a 5.12 ERA in nine starts. Walks have been a problem, with Narveson averaging 4.1 free passes per nine innings.
The Angels will counter with right-hander Joel Pineiro. The veteran sinkerballer has been either great or terrible this season, allowing six or more runs four times while posting a 2.01 ERA in his other nine starts.
One of his best outings was last Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when he allowed one run and five hits while striking out five in a complete game. His other outing this season against the National League didn’t go quite as well, as he allowed nine runs in three innings against the St. Louis Cardinals - his former team.
Pineiro is no stranger to Milwaukee, having gone 3-0 with a 3.35 ERA in six starts against the club, including three starts last season.