Back on Track?
Dominant pitching helped the Arizona Diamondbacks find their footing over the weekend.
Now, they’ll try to keep it up against a Milwaukee Brewers lineup which has rediscovered its hitting stroke.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made Milwaukee -125 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 54% of bets for this game have been placed on Milwaukee -125 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Coming off consecutive shutout victories, the Diamondbacks send Doug Davis to the mound to face his former team Monday when they open a three-game set at Miller Park against the Brewers, winners of three straight.
Entering Saturday’s game against Washington, the Diamondbacks (32-25) had dropped five straight and nine of 11, falling to five games above .500 for the first time since they were 9-4 on April 14. Ineffective pitching was a major reason for the swoon, as Arizona yielded 35 runs during its five-game skid.
That changed when ace Brandon Webb pitched a shutout in Saturday’s 4-0 win, and Dan Haren followed Webb’s effort with seven innings of four-hit ball Sunday as Arizona won 5-0.
"I think we’ve gotten back to being a little more confident these last couple days, and hopefully we’ll go out and play well in Milwaukee and take care of business from there," Haren said. "This team is too good to not be able to win on the road, so I don’t think anyone is worried."
The NL West-leading Diamondbacks may be good, but they also are just 11-13 on the road compared with a 21-12 mark at home. They’ve also struggled in recent years at Milwaukee, going 4-9 there since the start of the 2004 season.
Davis (2-2, 4.57 ERA) will try to help them reverse those trends as well as continue his own impressive comeback. The left-hander is 1-1 in two starts since missing more than six weeks due to surgery for thyroid cancer. He struggled at home Wednesday, though, giving up six runs and nine hits over five innings of an 11-3 loss to San Francisco.
Davis is no stranger to Milwaukee, where he posted a 37-36 record and 3.92 ERA from 2003-06. He is 19-14 with a 3.40 ERA in 57 career starts at Miller Park.
However, Davis struggled in two starts versus his former Brewers teammates last season, going 0-1 while yielding eight runs, nine hits – including four homers – and seven walks over eight innings.
He’ll face a tough challenge, as Milwaukee (29-28) has won three straight games and six of seven to move above the .500 mark. The Brewers were particularly impressive over the weekend, outscoring Houston 19-3 during a three-game sweep.
Ryan Braun and Russell Branyan both hit two-run homers Sunday as Milwaukee won 10-1 on a day it rested regulars Rickie Weeks, J.J. Hardy and Mike Cameron.
"It was a total team effort today," said Braun, whose homer came on the day of his own bobblehead giveaway. "This is what we’ve expected from the get-go. It’s good to see a lot of guys contributing and producing in big situations."
Braun had an excellent weekend, going 6-for-12 with two home runs, five RBIs and five runs scored. The left fielder is batting .331 (43-for-130) with 12 homers and 28 RBIs since April 29.
Milwaukee starter Jeff Suppan (3-4, 3.93) will look to follow up an excellent outing. The right-hander overcame five walks to throw a season-high eight innings in Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Atlanta, giving up four hits while striking out seven. In the process, he improved to 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA in four home starts this season, compared with a 1-4 record and 6.27 ERA in seven road outings.
Suppan, who went 1-7 with a 6.68 ERA for Arizona during part of an unsuccessful 1998 season, is 2-3 with a 3.86 ERA in six career starts versus the Diamondbacks.
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