When the Braves and Brewers met for the first time this season in mid-May, Milwaukee had 10 players on the injured list, including former MVP Christian Yelich. And when the teams met again 2-1/2 months later, the Braves were just beginning to assimilate into their lineup three outfielders acquired at the trade deadline.
The teams that will take the field Friday in Milwaukee for the start of a best-of-five National League Division Series are quite different than the teams that split six regular-season games.
The Braves won two of three in Milwaukee on May 14-16, and the Brewers took two of three at Truist Park on July 30-Aug. 1. Here’s a look back at those games in search of clues about what’s to come in the NLDS:
Braves 6, Brewers 3 (May 14)
Rewind: Braves starter Drew Smyly had one of the better games of his disappointing season, allowing one run on three hits in six innings. Brewers starter Adrian Houser lasted three innings, allowing two runs on two hits and five walks.
Later, the Braves got back-to-back homers from Marcell Ozuna and Ozzie Albies off lefty Eric Lauer. The Milwaukee crowd booed Ozuna’s “selfie photo” celebration.
How this game relates to NLDS (or not): Houser (10-6, 3.22 ERA) and Lauer (7-3, 3.19) are candidates to start a Game 4 for the Brewers. It’s unclear if Smyly, who hasn’t started a game since Aug. 30, will make the Braves’ NLDS roster. Ozuna hasn’t played since May 25 and will remain on administrative leave through the postseason as MLB investigates domestic-violence charges against him.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Braves 5, Brewers 1 (May 15)
Rewind: Braves starting pitcher Ian Anderson dominated the Brewers, carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh inning. At that point, a bloop single and a double ended his night at 110 pitches.
The other side of an Anderson-versus-Anderson matchup, Brewers starter Brett Anderson, surrendered four runs on eight hits in 3-2/3 innings. Freddie Freeman homered in the second inning, his 250th career homer.
How this game relates to NLDS: The Braves’ Anderson is expected to start Game 3. The Brewers’ Anderson is iffy to make the postseason roster.
Brewers 10, Braves 9 (May 16)
Rewind: This game is most remembered for what happened after Braves starter Huascar Ynoa allowed five runs and nine hits in 4-1/3 innings: He punched the dugout bench, broke his pitching hand and missed the next three months.
The Braves trailed 8-0 after six innings, having been held to two hits by Brewers All-Star starter Freddy Peralta, but rallied for seven runs in the seventh against Milwaukee’s bullpen with help from some infield defensive lapses. Freeman capped the rally with a grand slam.
How this game relates to NLDS: Both teams have been revamped since the mid-May series because of trades that rebuilt the Brewers’ infield (by adding shortstop Willy Adames, third baseman Eduardo Escobar and first baseman Rowdy Tellez) and the Braves’ outfield (by adding Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario and Joc Pederson). Peralta is expected to start NLDS Game 3. Ynoa might start Game 4, although that is uncertain.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Brewers 9, Braves 5 (July 30)
Rewind: In his first – and only – career start against the Braves, Cy Young Award candidate Corbin Burnes allowed five runs on nine hits in four innings. Austin Riley hit a two-run homer during the Braves’ four-run first inning.
The lead didn’t last, though, as Braves starter Touki Toussaint, who won’t be on the NLDS roster, allowed seven runs in 3-1/3 innings, including home runs by Avisail Garcia and Adames. The game came hours after the trade deadline, and one of the outfielders the Braves acquired that day, Duvall, arrived in time to start in left field, drive in a run and throw out a base runner.
How this game relates to NLDS: Burnes will start Game 1, and chances are he’ll be much better than on July 30, his worst start of the season. But for whatever (little) it’s worth, he has a career 18.90 ERA in four games, including three relief appearances in 2018-19, against the Braves.
Braves 8, Brewers 1 (July 31)
Rewind: The Braves’ hitters had some success against another of the Brewers’ three All-Star starters, Brandon Woodruff, touching him for three runs on eight hits in 5-1/3 innings. Braves rookie starter Kyle Muller, who finished the season at Triple-A Gwinnett and won’t be on the NLDS roster, pitched five strong innings.
Dansby Swanson had two home runs, including a grand slam, and a career-high seven RBIs. And in a sign of things to come, Soler went 3-for-4 in his Braves debut.
How this game relates to NLDS: Woodruff is expected to start Game 2. Soler has become a key to the Braves’ offense as the leadoff hitter.
Credit: Ben Margot
Credit: Ben Margot
Brewers 2, Braves 1 (August 1)
Rewind: Of the Braves’ six regular-season games against the Brewers, this was the only one started by co-ace Charlie Morton, who allowed two runs on three hits in six innings. (None of the six games were started by the Braves’ other ace, Max Fried.)
The Braves went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position against Milwaukee starter Brett Anderson and four relievers. Brewers closer Josh Hader worked a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts. As of this game, their last of the regular season against Milwaukee, the Braves had a 52-54 record and still hadn’t been above .500 all season.
How this game relates to NLDS: The Brewers will see much more of the Braves’ top two starting pitchers than in the regular season, with Morton set for Game 1, Fried for Game 2 and one of them for Game 5 if necessary. But the dominant Hader looms large if the Brewers lead late.
