Milwaukee @ Cincinnati preview
Great American Ball Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 26, 2012 ) Milwaukee 8, Cincinnati 1
The Milwaukee Brewers are riding a late surge which they hope lands them in the postseason. Manager Ron Roenicke's club posted its 26th win in 35 contests to pull to within 3 1/2 games of St. Louis in the race for the second wild card in the National League. The Brewers will look to better their standing on Thursday when they play the rubber match of their series with the host Cincinnati Reds.
Ryan Braun belted his NL-leading 41st homer and Aramis Ramirez reached the 100-RBI plateau for the seventh time in his career as Milwaukee cruised to an 8-1 triumph on Wednesday. Although the Reds have already clinched the NL Central, they fell one full game behind Washington in the race for the top seed in the postseason. Cincinnati elected to play Wednesday's tilt with its traditional starters as opposed to resting some of them with an eye toward the playoffs.
TV: 12:35 p.m. ET, FSWI (Milwaukee), FSOH (Cincinnati)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers RH Wily Peralta (2-1, 3.04 ERA) vs. Reds RH Mat Latos (13-4, 3.60)
Peralta suffered his first career setback after struggling with the strike zone. The 23-year-old Dominican issued four walks in 2 2/3 innings to take the loss in a 10-4 decision versus Washington on Saturday. Peralta has yet to yield a homer in five career starts this season.
Latos collected his third win in a row after scattering six hits over eight shutout innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. The 24-year-old handcuffed the Brewers in his last two outings. After striking out a career-high 13 in a complete-game gem on June 25, Latos allowed one run on three hits in seven innings but settled for a no-decision on Aug. 8.
WALK-OFFS
1. Milwaukee's Norichika Aoki ended an 0-for-14 slide with his 10th homer. Aoki, who recorded three hits on the night, is 2-for-6 in his career versus Latos.
2. Bench coach Chris Speier received an assist from manager Dusty Baker, who tweaked the lineup slightly prior to Wednesday's game. Baker visited the ball park after a stint in the hospital for both an irregular heartbeat and a mini-stroke.
3. Cincinnati's Joey Votto continued his torrid stretch since returning from the disabled list. He had an RBI double in the first inning to raise his average to .339 since coming back to the Reds on Sept. 5.