Standing
Milwaukee Brewers (44-30, 1st in NL Central)
Former Padres interim manager Pat Murphy has a 7½-game lead on the Cardinals in the division in his first year as Milwaukee’s skipper. The Brewers have won two in a row, six of 10 and are 22-18 on the road. Their plus-66 run differential is sixth-best in the majors, fueled by an offense that ranks fourth in on-base percentage (.329) and a pitching staff that is ninth in ERA (3.72). The Brewers also have the majors’ third-best bullpen (3.23 ERA).
San Diego Padres (38-40, 2nd in NL West)
A 1-5 road trip, salvaged by a win in the finale in Philadelphia, has dropped the Padres from the NL’s second wild-card spot to a half-game behind the Cardinals (36-37) in the race for the final wild-card spot. The Padres took two of three from the Brewers in Milwaukee in April, but they are 18-21 so far this season as the home team and their plus-11 run differential is 12th in baseball.
Clubhouse leaders
- OPS: Brewers – C William Contreras (.825), SS Willy Adams (.763), 2B Brice Turang (.738); Padres – OF Jurickson Profar (.905), OF Fernando Tatis Jr. (.800), 1B Jake Cronenworth (.748).
- Homers: Brewers – Adames (12), 1B Rhys Hoskins (10), Contreras (9); Padres – Tatis (13), Cronenworth (10), Profar (10).
- RBIs: Brewers – Adames (52), Contreras (48), OF Christian Yelich (32); Padres – Profar (47), Cronenworth (46), SS Ha-Seong Kim (35), Tatis (35).
- Steals: Brewers – Turang (26), Yelich (15), Adames (10), OF Blake Perkins (10); Padres – Kim (14), OF Jackson Merrill (9), Tatis (8).
- Saves: Brewers – RHP Trevor Megill (15-of-16, 2.01 ERA); Padres – RHP Robert Suarez (18-of-19, 1.17 ERA).
- Appearances: Brewers – LHP Hoby Milner (34, 4.25 ERA), RHP Joel Payamps (29, 3.55 ERA), RHP Elvis Peguero (28, 2.76 ERA); Padres – LHP Yuki Matsui (34, 4.02 ERA), RHP Enyel De Los Santos (33, 3.64 ERA), LHP Wandy Peralta (32, 4.00 ERA).
Pitching matchups
Thursday
Brewers RHP Bryse Wilson (4-3, 3.84 ERA) | Sometimes a starter (4.14 ERA over 37 IP) and sometimes a reliever (3.42 ERA over 26 ⅓ IP), the 26-year-old has thrown at least four innings in each of his last 10 appearances (7 starts, 3.99 ERA). Wilson threw 3⅔ shutout innings in a start against the Padres in Milwaukee in April.
Padres RHP Adam Mazur (0-2, 7.82 ERA) | The 23-year-old rookie has walked 13 batters over the first 12⅔ innings of his career and struck out just eight. Opposing hitters have an .822 OPS against Mazur, who has allowed 10 runs over his last 3⅔ innings after throwing a quality start (6 IP, 1 ER) in his debut).
Friday
Brewers RHP Colin Rea (6-2, 3.29 ERA) | The former Padre has a 1.61 ERA over his last four starts, striking out 17 against four walks over that stretch. His only start against the Padres was in April 2023, when he allowed a run over 5⅔ innings in a Brewers win in San Diego.
Padres RHP Dylan Cease (6-6, 3.95 ERA) | He’s still got a 1.07 WHIP on the season, but Cease has a 6.27 ERA and is allowing hitters an .867 OPS over his last seven starts. Nine of the 11 home runs he’s allowed have come over that stretch. Cease limited the brewers to a run over six innings in a win in April despite walking a season-high five batters in the game.
Saturday
Brewers RHP Carlos Rodriguez (0-2, 6.48 ERA) | The 22-year-old rookie is making his third big-league start. He has struck out seven and walked three over his first 8 ⅓ innings in the majors. He’s ranked No. 6 among Brewers prospects by MLB.com. Former Padres prospect Robert Gasser’s elbow injury opened the opportunity for Rodriguez.
Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (1-4, 5.70 ERA) | The rookie allowed a season-high six runs and 12 hits in 4 ⅓ innings in his last start as the Padres fell to 2-7 in games started by Vásquez. His hit rate is up from 7.2 per nine innings last year to 13.3 per nine innings to start the year. This is Vásquez’s first appearance against the Brewers.
Sunday
Brewers RHP Tobias Myers (4-2, 3.26 ERA) | The 25-year-old rookie has a 42-to-16 strikeout-to-walk ratio through his first 47 innings in the majors and he has allowed one run over his last three starts (20⅓ IP), all wins.
Padres RHP Michael King (5-4, 3.49 ERA) | He’s allowed five runs over his last five starts (1.69 ERA, 26 ⅔ IP), holding hitters to a .225/.300/.296 over that stretch. King, however, pitched past the fifth inning just once and did not complete five innings in Tuesday’s start in Philadelphia (4⅔ IP, 1 ER).
Training room
Milwaukee | C William Contreras cleared concussion protocol after a home plate collision on Sunday and returned to the lineup on Tuesday. RHP Abner Uribe is set to undergo surgery on a right meniscus tear, while LHP Robert Gasser (flexor) is contemplating surgery. RHP Joe Ross (back) is on the 15-day injured list, while RHP Jakob Junis (head, shoulder) could return from the 60-da injured list this week. RHP Devin Williams (back) could return late next month.
San Diego | RHP Yu Darvish (left groin) made a rehab start on Wednesday at high Single-A Fort Wayne and could fold back into the rotation next week. RF Fernando Tatis Jr. has been playing through quad tightness. He had his first full day off of the season on Tuesday. RHP Joe Musgrove (elbow) is expected to start throwing soon, while 2B Xander Bogaerts (shoulder) does not yet have a timetable.