Game Thread #108: Milwaukee Brewers (64-43) vs. Chicago Cubs (62-45)

Freddy Peralta and the Brewers look to complete the sweep against the Cubs this afternoon.

With two wins under their belts in this series so far, the Brewers enter the final game in a great spot. They’ve secured the series win and will maintain first place in the division no matter what happens today. With that said, today’s game is still a big one. If they complete the sweep, they would extend that division lead to three games. They would also have a two-game advantage in the season series and would only need to win two of the five games in the final series in August to secure the tiebreaker.

The Brewers will have Freddy Peralta on the mound as they go for the sweep. In the month of July, Peralta has a 2.51 ERA and 2.85 FIP, with 33 strikeouts compared to just eight walks. He’s allowed just eight runs in 28 ²⁄₃ innings, and four of those came two starts ago against the Dodgers. In four of his five starts this month, he has allowed two or fewer runs. This is Peralta’s third start against the Cubs this season. In his first start on May 4, he pitched six shutout innings at home. In his second start in Chicago on June 19, he allowed three runs in five innings. Over 20 career games (15 starts) against the Cubs, Peralta has a 3.07 ERA in 88 innings.

For the Cubs, Shoto Imanaga will make the start. So far this season, he has a 3.12 ERA and 4.71 FIP. His last start was a rough one, as he allowed seven runs in three innings against the White Sox. That caused his ERA to jump from 2.40 to 3.12. He has made one start against the Brewers this season on May 4, also against Peralta. Imanaga allowed two runs in 5 ²⁄₃ innings as Peralta outdueled him in that game (a 4-0 Brewers win).

One main point of concern entering today’s game was the status of Jackson Chourio. He left last night’s game after a triple with what was called a “right hamstring spasm”. This morning on MLB Network, manager Pat Murphy said that Chourio is “a little sore”. He’s being held out of the lineup today, giving him two days to rest with the off-day tomorrow. The Brewers can wait until Saturday to make an IL decision and backdate it to today, minimizing his time on the IL if a stint is needed.

With Chourio out for the day, Isaac Collins moves up to the second spot in the lineup to bat behind Sal Frelick. William Contreras, Christian Yelich, and Andrew Vaughn will bat in their usual spots. Caleb Durbin moves up to sixth in the lineup with Brice Turang sliding down to seventh. Blake Perkins will cover center field and bat eighth today, and Joey Ortiz is ninth as usual.

First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m. CT. It will be on FanDuel Sports Wisconsin and the Brewers Radio Network. For anyone who is out of market, MLB.TV has all the games in the league available for free through tomorrow.