September 17 – Right-hander Frankie Montas was reported to pitch for Milwaukee against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, giving the Brewers a chance to clinch the National League Central title.
Montas (7-10, 4.49 ERA) will face right-hander Zack Wheeler (15-6, 2.60 ERA), who ranks first in the NL in both ERA and wins.
The Milwaukee Bucks beat Philadelphia 6-2 in Monday’s series opener, dropping the magic number in the NFC Central Division to just two points. William Contreras and Joey Ortiz each drove in two runs, and Brewers starting pitcher Aaron Civale held on for five more innings of work.
Contreras is hitting .400 (10 for 25) with two home runs, three doubles and 10 RBIs in his last eight games.
“They’re a dangerous offensive club,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “They’re very dynamic and they can beat you in a number of ways. They attack, they hit and run, they steal bases.”
The Brewers (87-63) are 10 games ahead of the second-place Chicago Cubs (77-73), who beat the Oakland Athletics 9-2 on Monday. Milwaukee can win its second consecutive division title and fourth in seven seasons if it wins on Tuesday and the Cubs lose.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy was asked if he saw the potential for such success early in the season.
“I heard what people were saying,” Murphy said. “A lot of people laugh at us and say this is a rebuild or something like that. We haven’t accomplished anything yet. So we’re going to keep our heads down and keep playing and be competitive in every game like we did before.”
Philadelphia (90-60) is eight games ahead of the NL East, ahead of the New York Mets (82-68) and one game ahead of the Dodgers (89-61), who have the league’s best record. Milwaukee trails Los Angeles by two games in the second round of the NFC playoffs with a pair of byes.
Since acquiring him from the Cincinnati Reds in late July, Montas has gone 3-2 with a 3.40 ERA in eight games with Milwaukee. In his most recent outing, he allowed only two hits in six scoreless innings in a 3-0 win over San Francisco on Thursday.
Montas has made two starts in his career against the Phillies and is 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA. On April 3, he pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball as Cincinnati beat Philadelphia 4-1.
Wheeler has been overdue for the past two months.
In six starts in August, he went 3–1 with a 1.62 ERA, striking out 44 and allowing only five runs in 39 innings. Wheeler went 2–0 with a 2.25 ERA in two starts in September, allowing 16 runs and four walks in 12 innings.
Wheeler has started in 10 career games against the Milwaukee Bucks and is 4-2 with a 2.53 ERA. He has faced the Brewers once this season, when he allowed one run over seven innings in a 3-1 home win on June 3.
Phillies sluggers Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber each had two hits on Monday. Harper is hitting .376 (32 for 85) with 13 doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs over his last 23 games. Over his last 12 games, Schwarber is batting .378 (17 for 45) with seven home runs and 14 RBIs.
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