Milwaukee Brewers (64-56) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (84-36)
It is a potential playoff matchup starting on Monday when the Milwaukee Brewers take on the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. This is a battle of two teams heading in opposite directions, as Milwaukee is 4-6 in their last 10 after dropping two of three to the Chicago Cubs over the weekend. The Dodgers are 7-3 in their last 10, including sweeping the Miami Marlins over the weekend.
These teams met in a four-game series in Milwaukee last week, where each team came away with two victories. Los Angeles enters as the favorite at -255 with the odds set for the Brewers at +205. When giving up 1.5 runs, Los Angeles is still the favorite at -115 while Milwaukee is at -105. The total is set at 8.0 (over: -105, under: -115).
The Milwaukee Brewers are 4-6 in their last 10, including losing two of three to the St. Louis Cardinals two weekends ago (August 12-14). That now has the club focused on the wildcard chase instead of the NL Central title. Milwaukee is now 5.0 games behind St. Louis, who had won seven straight games entering Monday’s competition. Milwaukee is only 1.5 games behind Philadelphia for the final wildcard spot in the NL.
Brewed up a win in Chicago@MillerLite x #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/s1nPUw12Y6
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) August 21, 2022
Milwaukee is 11th in runs per game (4.58), but it has been the long ball that has been driving this club. The Brewers are third in homeruns (167), but are only hitting .235 as a team, 22nd overall, and have a .316 on-base percentage, 13th overall. However, this team is struggling offensively in August, posting a .201 batting average and a .293 on-base percentage. They have club 27 home runs in 18 games but are only averaging 3.89 runs per game this month.
Milwaukee starts left-hander Eric Lauer. Lauer is 8-5 with a 3.58 ERA in 22 starts. The lefty has allowed six runs in 20 innings in August and has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his last nine st arts. His last outing was against Los Angeles, where he allowed two runs on four hits in seven innings, striking out seven. He did give up two home runs in that contest and has now given up two home runs in each of his last two starts.