This story was originally published by Dead Spin
The Milwaukee Brewers have yet to lose four games in a row this season, thanks to a solid win Saturday night against the visiting Colorado Rockies.
And now, Milwaukee has a chance to get a series victory Sunday afternoon in the conclusion of the season series with the Rockies.
The Brewers (82-60) bounced back from a 3-2 loss Friday night to snatch a 5-2 win on Saturday, and now they will send right-hander Freddy Peralta (10-7, 3.75 ERA) against Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland (4-7, 5.30) in the rubber game.
The Brewers have a commanding 10-game lead in the National League Central with 20 games to play and, barring a collapse in the final three weeks of the season, will head back to the postseason. Colorado (53-90) has been eliminated from playoff contention.
Peralta is 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA in six career appearances — five starts — against the Rockies, but Sunday may be more special for him. That’s because his younger brother, Luis, pitches for Colorado and is one of 12 Rockies players to make his major league debut this season.
The brothers enjoyed a moment Saturday night when they exchanged lineups at home plate before the game. Freddy, 28, made his big-league debut in 2018 against the Rockies and struck out 13 that day. He is known as a strikeout pitcher, but he praises his brother’s ability.
“He has better stuff than me. Way better,” Freddy Peralta said. “He has the fastball that he can use in different ways, a very good fastball. He has the slider that is kind of like a curveball, and he has the cutter. He has a changeup, but he’s not throwing it a lot. I don’t know why, but it is there, too.”
Luis Peralta, 23, got the final two outs of the game Saturday night but could be used again Sunday if Freeland has issues with blisters on his pitching hand.
It’s a problem that has plagued Freeland over the past month and forced him out of three starts, including his most recent one Tuesday in Atlanta. He took the 3-0 loss despite holding one of baseball’s best offensive teams to two runs — one earned — over five innings.
“It’s very annoying dealing with this,” Freeland said. “We thought we got it taken care of over the past couple weeks, and then sure enough it pops up again. Very frustrating to be able to be pitching well in a game, keeping the club in the game, trying to get a win, and have that pop up and not have any feel for any sort of breaking stuff.”
Freeland has pitched well against Milwaukee in his career, going 4-2 with a 2.36 ERA in seven starts, but he might not have Brenton Doyle patrolling center field. Doyle, who has become one of the best outfielders in the NL, suffered a hand injury Saturday night while making a diving catch and later was replaced by Sam Hilliard.
“His left hand suffered a little bit of an impact, swelled up a bit and affected his ability to grip the bat,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Precautionary, we got him out of the game.”
–Field Level Media
