MLB Game Of The Week: Cinncinatti Reds at Milwaukee Brewers

It's No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the NL Central when the Reds battle the Brewers in Milwaukee Wednesday. The Reds are fresh off a tough loss on Tuesday night. Speaking of tough losses, last week I wrote about Detroit's heartbreaking ninth inning in Los Angeles, when they let a 2-2 game become an 8-2 game very quickly. Tuesday night's seventh inning in Milwaukee would have been familiar for Detroit, except it happened to Cincinnati...in Milwaukee. So what we have here is another story of very, very bad late inning play in the midwest. I love a good unifying theme. 

The Reds were actually up 4-1 going into the seventh Tuesday, then reliever Michael Lorenzen gave up three straight hits, followed by a single from Kolton Wong that cut the lead to 4-2. Lorenzen served up a walk to load the bases, got pulled, and then watched as his bullpen counterpart Mychal Givens gave up consecutive sacrifice flies that tied it 4-4. Omar Narvaez then doubled to give the Brewers the lead. Yes, a very bad inning indeed. 

Kolton Wong, who started the whole scoring barrage with his single, returned in the eighth to hit a two-run blast to push it to 7-4, giving the Brewers their fourth straight win over the Reds an ninth overall this season. To add to the sweetness, they did it front of NBA Finals champ and MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is now a part-owner of the Brewers. 

Luis Castillo (7-12, 4.29 ERA, 145 strikeouts) will be on the mound for the Reds Wednesday. Castillo had a tough start to the season, losing nine straight to open, but has gone 9-6 since then. Right fielder Nick Castellanos leads the Reds with a .318 batting average, while Joey Vatto has hit 28 home runs on the year with 81 RBIs, both tops in the club. Jesse Winker has also provided an offensive spark with a .395 OBP and 129 hits, and Jessie India has 22 doubles, 16 hime runs and a .275 batting average for additional offensive firepower.  

Brandon Woodruff (7-7, 2.54 ERA, 167 strikeouts) will get the start for Milwaukee. Woodruff has been up and down this season as his record indicates, losing three out of last five starts and winning just one in  July. He gave up eight hits and six earned runs in his last start on 8/19 against St. Louis. But don't let his record fool you. Facing Woodruff will be a formidable task for the Reds; his 2.54 ERA is good for fifth in baseball, while his 167 strikeouts are good for thirteenth. 

The heroes of Tuesday's win, Kolten Wong and Omar Narvaez, are hitting .290 and .292 respectively for Milwaukee, while center fielder Avail Garcia leads the team in nearly every other offensive category, including batting average (.274) hits (105), home runs (24) RBIs (75) and OBP (.343) in 111 games. Avasail has hit four home runs on 14 RBIs against the Reds this season. 

These are two closely matched teams, and both clubs have been slugging it this season. The Reds have hit 176 home runs on the year, good for fifth in MLB play, while Milwaukee sits at twelfth with 157. The Reds have hit 15 home runs in their last 10 games, while the Brewers have hit 13 in that same stretch, with 76 home runs coming at home this season. So if you're in attendance tonight and sitting in the bleachers, bring your glove! 

The Brewers are -1.5 run favorites in this one. I'll give them the edge since they're at home, where Woodruff (3-1 with a 2.26 ERA and 78 strikeouts ) is comfortable. The Brewers are 35-28 at American Family Field this season, but be careful, those Reds are a respectable 33-29 on the road. My prediction: Brewers 6-4. The Reds will come back angry after Tuesday's loss, but Milwaukee simply has too much offense to lose this one.