Florida @ Milwaukee preview
American Family Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 24, 2011 ) Florida 4, Milwaukee 6
THE STORY: One more home win would give the Milwaukee Brewers a franchise record, but they'll likely need more than one to ensure home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The National League Central champion Brewers will try to take another step toward that goal when they wrap up a three-game series with the Florida Marlins on Sunday at Miller Park. The Brewers have won the first two games of the series to improve their major league-best home record to 54-23, matching the 1978 team for the most home wins in franchise history.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports Florida, Fox Sports Wisconsin
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins RH Ricky Nolasco (10-11, 4.46 ERA) vs. Brewers LH Chris Narveson (10-8, 4.40 ERA)
Nolasco has struggled down the stretch with only one quality start in his last seven outings. He gave up a pair of home runs in his last start Monday against the Atlanta Braves, allowing five runs over 6 2/3 innings, but the Marlins rallied for a 6-5 win to get him off the hook. Nolasco is 1-1 with a 7.99 ERA in five starts against the Brewers. He settled for a no-decision in his only start against them this season.
Narveson has lost his last two starts with a scoreless relief stint sandwiched between. The 29-year-old will be the odd man out of the Brewers' four-man rotation in the postseason. He lasted only four innings in his last outing Monday at Chicago, allowing three runs. Narveson is 0-2 with a 5.60 ERA in three starts against Florida.
ABOUT THE MARLINS (71-87): Florida is assured of finishing last in the NL East for the first time since 2007 after a Saturday's 6-4 loss, the Marlins' seventh in a row against Milwaukee. Emilio Bonifacio extended his hitting streak to six games with a solo homer Saturday. It was Bonifacio's fourth home run of the season; he hit only one in his previous four major league seasons combined.
ABOUT THE BREWERS (93-65): The Brewers rallied from three deficits Saturday to maintain their one-game lead over Arizona for the NL's No. 2 seed and home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Milwaukee relievers combined for four scoreless innings Saturday with John Axford earning his franchise-record 45th save. Milwaukee's bullpen has a 0.94 ERA in 57 2/3 innings in September.
FINAL PITCH: Milwaukee's Ryan Braun went 2-for-3 Saturday to raise his average to .331 and give him a one-point lead over New York's Jose Reyes for the NL lead. The Brewers have never had a batting champion.