Brewers continue long stretch of interleague matchups in Cleveland
The Milwaukee Brewers will wrap up their six-game road trip in Cleveland against the Guardians this week, also marking their third of five consecutive series against interleague opponents. The Crew had another up-and-down week, winning their first two against the Astros before dropping the series finale and then salvaging the series finale themselves against the Rays over the weekend for a 3-3 week.
On the other side, the Guardians have had a solid week, going 3-2 against the Nationals and Phillies entering their series finale on Sunday Night Baseball. They sit at 23-16 this season, 2.5 games back in a surprisingly deep AL Central as the Tigers are 26-14 and the Royals are 24-17.
Milwaukee’s injury list (luckily) hasn’t changed much over the last couple of weeks. Brandon Woodruff looks primed to return this coming weekend, with Aaron Ashby and Aaron Civale hopefully not too far behind him. DL Hall is also working his way back, while Nestor Cortes is aiming for an All-Star break return. Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins are also looking at late May/early June returns. Now we just have to make sure everyone else is protected with bubble wrap.
The Guardians’ injury list includes a pair of outfielders in Lane Thomas (wrist bone bruise) and Chase DeLauter, who is also the team’s No. 2 prospect and MLB’s No. 33 prospect. They also have a plethora of pitching injuries, including Slade Cecconi, Paul Sewald, Shane Bieber, Trevor Stephan, John Means, Sam Hentges, and Erik Sabrowski. Utilityman David Fry is also out with a UCL injury.
Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich lead the Crew with seven homers each. Chourio is hitting .260/.275/.468, and Rhys Hoskins is hitting .275/.380/.425 with four homers and 19 RBIs. Brice Turang has fallen back to earth a bit as he’s not hitting .296/.370/.380, but he also leads the team with nine steals. William Contreras homered over the weekend but is still having a down year offensively, hitting .237/.350/.341. As a team, the Brewers are hitting .233/.311/.355 (.666 OPS ranks 24th) with 35 homers (tied for 21st), 184 runs (13th), and 51 steals (first).
The Guardians are led offensively by perennial MVP candidate José Ramírez, who is hitting .287/.348/.478 with six homers, eight doubles, 18 RBIs, 17 runs, and nine steals. Kyle Manzardo leads the squad with nine homers, while Steven Kwan is always a threat with a .327 batting average. Former Brewer Carlos Santana and catcher Bo Naylor are also cornerstones of the offense. As a team, the Guardians are hitting .237/.310/.388 (.698 OPS ranks 14th) with 45 homers (tied for 11th), 164 runs (17th), and 30 steals (tied for 16th).
The combination of Jared Koenig, Abner Uribe, Grant Anderson, Nick Mears, and Trevor Megill has helped keep Milwaukee close late this season, while Tyler Alexander continues to work as the length arm out of the pen. Joel Payamps, Bryan Hudson, and Elvis Peguero are mostly working as the “losing” bullpen at this point, though Payamps has looked much better of late. The team’s 4.14 ERA ranks 20th, including a 3.74 starter ERA (12th) and a 4.65 reliever ERA (22nd). They’ve struck out 320 batters (21st) in 358 2⁄3 innings this year.
Cleveland’s bullpen is led by closer Emmanuel Clase, who is having an uncharacteristically down year with a 5.51 ERA through 17 outings, though he’s still 8-for-10 in save opportunities. Cade Smith leads the team with 19 appearances, though Hunter Gaddis (18 appearances, 0.60 ERA) and Tim Herrin (18 appearances, 2.40 ERA) have been better. Former Brewer Jakob Junis has also worked out of the bullpen with a 4.00 ERA over 18 innings, while Joey Cantillo, Kolby Allard, and Matt Festa sit at the bottom of the depth chart (Allard is a multi-innings eater, spanning 12 frames in just four appearances). As a staff, the Guardians have a 4.26 ERA (22nd), including a 4.42 starter ERA (25th) and a 4.04 reliever ERA (16th). They’ve struck out 321 batters (20th) in 344 innings this year.
Probable Pitchers
Monday, May 12 @ 5:10 p.m.: Freddy Peralta (2.18 ERA, 3.49 FIP) vs. Ben Lively (3.46 ERA, 4.58 FIP)
This is Peralta’s first start in over a week, as he last pitched on Sunday against the Cubs. He’s been given a few extra days of rest after suffering a minor groin injury, but he’s expected to make his return Monday in Cleveland. That start against the Cubs was one of his best this season, as he threw six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. This season, Peralta is 4-2 with a 1.7 bWAR, 2.18 ERA, 3.49 FIP, and 48 strikeouts across 45 1⁄3 innings. He’s 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA over three appearances (two starts) in his career against Cleveland, striking out 12 across 12 2⁄3 innings. He pitched against them in Milwaukee last August, allowing one run over six innings with three strikeouts.
Lively, now in his second season with the Guardians, has had far more success with Cleveland than anywhere else he’s pitched (that includes Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Cincinnati). Through 37 starts in 2024 and 2025, he has a 3.74 ERA and 4.64 FIP with the Guardians, striking out 146 across 192 2⁄3 innings. His last start against the Nationals was a winning effort, as he allowed one run over 5 1⁄3 innings on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Lively has made five career starts against the Brewers, four of which came while with the Reds, but he’s suffered from some bad luck — he has an 0-4 record despite a solid 3.38 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 29 1⁄3 innings. He allowed two runs over six frames last August against the Crew but was the losing pitcher in that one.
Tuesday, May 13 @ 5:10 p.m.: Quinn Priester (5.08 ERA, 5.09 FIP) vs. Logan Allen (4.33 ERA, 4.50 FIP)
Priester, who started his tenure with Milwaukee looking great, has underperformed in his last three appearances, though his last start came with some bad luck. He allowed three runs (just one earned) over five innings on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts against the Astros, but the Brewers ended up losing 9-1 thanks to a disappointing day for the bullpen. He’s made just one career appearance against Cleveland, giving up seven runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts over 5 1⁄3 innings while with the Pirates in 2023.
Allen, 26, is in his third MLB season, all with the Guardians. After a solid rookie campaign (3.81 ERA, 4.19 FIP over 125 1⁄3 innings), he had a down season in 2024, with a 5.73 ERA and 5.87 FIP over 97 1⁄3 innings. He’s fallen somewhere in the middle this season, with a 4.33 ERA and 4.50 FIP over 35 1⁄3 innings through seven starts. He’s also struck out 25 batters. His last outing was a short one, as he allowed three runs on seven hits and four walks with three strikeouts over just four innings on 91 pitches. This is Allen’s first career appearance against Milwaukee.
Wednesday, May 14 @ 12:10 p.m.: Jose Quintana (2.65 ERA, 4.59 FIP) vs. Gavin Williams (4.38 ERA, 4.66 FIP)
Quintana bounced back with an okay start after allowing six runs to the Cubs last weekend, giving up three runs (one earned) over 5 1⁄3 innings with three strikeouts in a loss to the Rays. He threw just 75 pitches, though he did surpass 2,000 career innings in that one. Through six starts for the Crew, he’s 4-1 with a 2.65 ERA and 4.59 FIP, though that low FIP can be attributed, at least in part, to him having just 24 strikeouts in 34 innings. The former White Sox pitcher has made 22 career appearances (20 starts) against Cleveland, 21 of which came with the White Sox and the other was last year while with the Mets. He has a solid 2.82 ERA and 7-5 record with 103 strikeouts across 131 innings.
Williams, a former first-round pick by Cleveland, is in his third season with the team. Through 40 career starts, he has a 4.11 ERA and 4.01 FIP with 205 strikeouts across 195 innings. He’s made eight starts spanning 37 innings this season, with a 4.38 ERA and 4.66 FIP as he’s struck out 45 across 37 innings. His last start against the Phillies was a scoreless outing, as he struck out eight over five innings. Williams has made one start against the Brewers in his career, as he allowed five runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts across four innings in a loss last season.
How to Watch
Monday, May 12: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin and MLB.TV (out-of-market viewers); listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network
Tuesday, May 13: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin and MLB.TV (out-of-market viewers); listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network
Wednesday, May 14: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin, MLB Network (out-of-market viewers), and MLB.TV (out-of-market viewers); listen via radio on the Brewers Radio Network
Prediction
The Guardians are once again strongly in contention in the AL Central, while the Brewers have had a rollercoaster season. After a fairly down week-into-the-weekend for the Crew, I’ll take them to bounce back and take two of three to wrap up the road trip.