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Cincinnati Reds @ Milwaukee Brewers
The Reds will take another step towards finishing the death march which has been the 2015 season. With 2 games left before September call-ups, the Reds will still see what they have in their cupboard of players with major league contracts.
John Lamb makes his 4th start since coming over to the Reds in the trade of Johnny Cueto. While he has put up some impressive strikeout numbers (21Ks in 16.1 innings), he has struggled in preventing runs. His 6.06 ERA looks a bit better when you examine his 4.04 FIP, but he's shown thus far a propensity to give up about 2 home runs every 9 innings. Hopefully today will mark the day the Reds begin to see a return on their trade of Johnny Beisbol.
Wily Peralta will start for the Brewers today despite exiting his last start with an arm issue. Peralta will be going for his 5th win on the season while trying to avoid his 9th loss. He's struggled a bit in 2015. His ERA after 15 starts and 85.0 innings is 4.55 with a WHIP of 1.518. It may be of note that his strikeout rate is down from previous years, as he is only averaging 5.1 K's every 9 innings. His career rate prior to this year is an almost nice 6.7.
It may be difficult for Jay Bruce to maintain his momentum from yesterday. Against Peralta, he is 4 for 20 lifetime, with one of those hits being a home run. Bruce's .588 OPS is still better than Todd Frazier's and Brandon Phillip's. Frazier has 2 hits and a walk in 15 plate appearances while BP has reached base only 5 times in 18 plate appearances. It should not be surprising that Joey Votto has done well against Peralta in their careers, however. Despite striking out 5 times in 26 plate appearances, he has an OPS of .923 with a home run and a double.
A win today by the Reds will bring the Brewers down to co-cellar dwellers in the Central. Since misery loves company, go Reds!
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