Preview: Athletics at Brewers
Chris Carter gave the Oakland Athletics a glimpse of his power potential in his third season in the majors, when he clubbed 16 home runs in only 67 games with the team.
Now with Milwaukee, Carter looks to lead the Brewers to a sweep of their abbreviated two-game interleague series against the visiting Athletics on Wednesday.
Carter provided all the offense for Milwaukee in Tuesday’s 5-4 victory with a pair of homers and five RBIs, giving him 16 blasts for the season. Jonathan Lucroy is batting .500 (18-for-36) during his 10-game hitting streak for the Brewers, who have won nine of their last 14 contests.
The Athletics were hitless through six innings Tuesday before a belated rally fell short as they dropped to 0-4 on their eight-game road trip. Oakland’s Billy Butler homered and drove in three runs in the series opener to give him 10 RBIs in his last eight games.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, CSN California (Oakland), FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Jesse Hahn (2-3, 6.10 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Chase Anderson (3-6, 4.68)Hahn is coming off a forgettable outing in which he could not make it through the first inning, getting battered for seven runs and six hits while retiring only two batters at Houston on Friday. Hahn had his best performance in his season debut versus those same Astros with 6 2/3 scoreless innings of three-hit ball. The 26-year-old from Connecticut picked up the victory against Detroit on May 28 after allowing three runs in six innings while recording a season-high five strikeouts.
Although he failed to go past six innings for the 10th time in 11 starts, Anderson is coming off a strong outing at Philadelphia in which he struck out six while permitting one run and three hits over 5 2/3 innings. The lone run came on a solo homer – the 13th blast surrendered by the 28-year-old in his last nine turns. He did not factor in the decision in his lone start versus Oakland in 2015, giving up two runs and five hits over six frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Brewers LF Ryan Braun became the fifth player in team history to collect 1,500 hits.
2. Athletics LF Khris Davis (finger numbness) and 3B Danny Espinosa (stomach bug) each sat out the series opener.
3. Milwaukee RHP Tyler Thornburg has retired 26 straight batters, tied for the third-longest streak in club history.
PREDICTION: Brewers 5, Athletics 3
