5/26 Gamethread: Giants @ Brewers

After taking the series opener 5-0 on Thursday night, the San Francisco Giants will look to make it two straight against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight, guaranteeing at least a split of the four-game series. The Giants are playing very well right now: they’ve won eight of their last 10 games, including three of four on the road. If they win two of the next three, they’ll have four straight series wins ... against four highly competitive teams.

And with a win tonight they’ll be above .500 for the first time all year.

The Giants are turning to left hander Alex Wood, who makes his sixth start and seventh appearance of the year (and his third start and fourth appearance since returning from the Injured List). Wood has yet to record a decision this year, and has a 4.05 ERA, a 4.63 FIP, and 21 strikeouts to eight walks in 20 innings. His last outing didn’t go well, as he gave up four runs in 4.1 innings to the Miami Marlins.

Wood isn’t the most efficient, isn’t very good the third time through the order, and in all likelihood still isn’t at full arm strength — as a result, he’s yet to make it through the fifth inning of a game (hence the lack of decisions). So you can expect to see a lot of bullpen in this one. You might think that’s a bad thing given that yesterday was a designed bullpen game for the Giants, but in reality, they’re fairly well rested. Scott Alexander threw just eight pitches in the game, while the Rogers twins threw 15 (Taylor) and 17 (Tyler). Camilo Doval and Ryan Walker didn’t pitch, so the Giants should have all of their single-inning relievers available, except for John Brebbia. And they’ll have Tristan Beck, should they need an arm that can stretch it out.

The Brewers are using righty Freddy Peralta. It’s hard to believe that Peralta is still just 26 years old (for a few more days, at least), given that the 2021 All-Star is already in his sixth season. It’s been Peralta’s worst season since his second year, though he’s still plenty good. In nine starts he’s 5-3 with a 4.15 ERA, a 4.08 FIP, and 54 strikeouts to 22 walks in 52 innings. After a strong start to the year, Peralta has struggled his last two times out, giving up a combined nine runs in 11.1 innings.

Enjoy the game, Giants fans!

Lineups

Giants

1. LaMonte Wade Jr. (L) — 1B — 148 OPS+
2. Blake Sabol (L) — DH — 118 OPS+
3. J.D. Davis (R) — 3B — 121 OPS+
4. Michael Conforto (L) — RF — 120 OPS+
5. Mitch Haniger (R) — LF — 42 OPS+
6. Mike Yastrzemski (L) — CF — 101 OPS+
7. Casey Schmitt (R) — SS — 131 OPS+
8. Patrick Bailey (S) — C — 101 OPS+
9. Brett Wisely (L) — 2B — 26 OPS+

P. Alex Wood — LHP — 4.63 FIP

Brewers

1. Darin Ruf (R) — DH — 97 OPS+
2. William Contreras (R) — C — 104 OPS+
3. Willy Adames (R) — SS — 85 OPS+
4. Christian Yelich (L) — LF — 110 OPS+
5. Owen Miller (R) — 2B — 141 OPS+
6. Brian Anderson (R) — 3B — 108 OPS+
7. Mike Brosseau (R) — 1B — 97 OPS+
8. Tyrone Taylor (R) — RF — 39 OPS+
9. Joey Wiemer (R) — CF — 69 OPS+

P. Freddy Peralta — RHP — 4.08 FIP

Game #51

Who: San Francisco Giants (25-25) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (27-23)

Where: American Family Field, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When: 5:10 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area (available on fuboTV)

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM