Diamondbacks at Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are knocking the Arizona Diamondbacks out of wild-card contention in the National League this weekend while keeping their own postseason hopes alive. The Brewers will try to polish off a three-game sweep and carry momentum into another tough stretch of schedule when they host the Diamondbacks in the series finale on Sunday.
Milwaukee, which will play St. Louis, the Chicago Cubs (twice) and Houston Astros over its next four series, pulled within two games of the Cubs for the second NL wild card with Saturday's 4-0 triumph and sits 3 1/2 behind the first-place Cardinals in the NL Central. The Brewers allowed a total of 28 runs during a three-game slide earlier in the week but turned things around on the pitching end with four runs allowed during their current three-game winning streak. The Diamondbacks dropped 5 1/2 games behind the Cubs with Saturday's loss and posted a combined three runs during a three-game slide that pushed the club two games under .500 (64-66). Arizona will try to find some support on Sunday for left-hander Robbie Ray while Milwaukee goes for the sweep behind righty Zach Davies.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, FS Arizona, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks LH Robbie Ray (10-7, 3.99 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Zach Davies (8-6, 3.74)
Ray (back) will be activated off the 10-day injured list to make the start and is hoping to rediscover the form that saw him hold the Los Angeles Dodgers to two runs on as many hits over six innings in his last full start on Aug. 9. The 27-year-old owns 187 strikeouts in 142 innings this season and punched out two in as many innings before leaving with the back injury at Colorado on Aug. 14. Ray is seeing Milwaukee for the first time since 2017, when he tossed 13 2/3 scoreless innings across two starts against the Brewers.
Davies had his own back problems send him to the IL earlier this month but made his return on Monday at St. Louis and scattered two runs and three hits across five innings. The 26-year-old was limited to 75 pitches in that outing and is expected to get close to 100 pitches on Sunday. Davies started at Arizona on July 18 and breezed through seven frames, allowing one run and five hits to earn a win.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Brewers designated Opening Day starter Jhoulys Chacin for assignment on Saturday.
2. Arizona SS Nick Ahmed is 1-for-15 over his last five games.
3. Milwaukee 1B Eric Thames homered in each of the first two games of the series, bringing his season total to 19.