First Five Play in Brewers vs. Diamondbacks

Brewers vs. Diamondbacks, 9:40 ET

I was wrong about a few teams and players this year. I thought that Joey Gallo would out homer Yordan Alvarez. I thought the White Sox would win more games than the Mets. Sometimes you just need to eat a loss. I didn't have much thought on the Brewers or Diamondbacks before the season, aside from thinking the Cardinals were the better team in the NL Central. The Diamondbacks are doing better than I expected though. Both of these teams have to attribute their success to the pitching staff.

Eric Lauer is a fine pitcher, and probably would be in the rotation for most teams. That, to me, is actually a big deal. Are pitchers in a rotation out of need, or are they warranted? Lauer is warranted. He's got a 3.58 ERA on the season and is in the top-50 in baseball for strikeouts. He was good for most of August against some fairly tough competition. He struggled in his last start against the Cubs, but other than that, he's been strong in probably eight of his last ten outings. I think he will likely keep the Brewers in the game tonight as he has rebounded from rough starts well this year.

Zach Davies goes for the Diamondbacks. He's having a decent year overall with a 3.82 ERA. He has been a full run better at home games as opposed to on the road as well. After returning in August from missing all of July, Davies posted a 3.49 ERA in the month over six starts. He was relatively consistent, too. He basically went five innings in each start and allowed three or fewer earned runs in each start. The Diamondbacks were able to win four of his six starts. The Brewers should be familiar with Davies after he was with the Cubs last year (and he used to pitch for the Brewers), but none of them have stats that really stand out against him.

Both teams have been pretty hot lately at the plate, but I think this game we see them take a little step back. Both starters probably will give up a couple of runs, but I am taking the under 4.5 through five innings at -115.

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