The gap in the NL Central is a little bigger after the Milwaukee Brewers took the first game of their series with the Chicago Cubs on Monday night. Of course, the two teams are back at it on Tuesday night, with the Brewers favored with a moneyline of -210 compared to Chicago’s moneyline of +175. The game also has an over/under of 7.5 runs.
With their win on Monday, the Brew Crew has now won six in a row, establishing themselves as the best team in the National League outside of the NL West. Thanks to that winning streak, Milwaukee is now 13 games over .500. More importantly, they have opened up a somewhat comfortable four-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central.
As for the Cubs, Monday’s 14-4 loss was their fourth in a row. They are now 4-10 over their last 14 games, making them just five games over .500. Of course, they remain second in the NL Central, although they are four games back and 4.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot.
The Zach Attack
Zach Davies will have the responsibility on Tuesday of trying to help the Cubs break their losing streak. The longtime Brewer is in the midst of a modest season, going 5-4 with a 4.31 ERA over his 16 starts. He was terrible in April, outstanding in May, and wildly inconsistent in June. Davies has pitched six shutout innings in three of his last four starts but also got rocked for eight runs over six innings by the Miami Marlins during that stretch.
Meanwhile, his former teammates are finally finding their groove offensively. The Brewers have scored at least five runs in eight of their last 10 games, averaging 6.1 runs per game during that stretch. It’s taken some time, but all of Milwaukee’s key players seem to be hot at the same time, including Christian Yelich, Kolten Wong, and Keston Hiura, among others.
Bringing the Wood
Not only are the Brewers clicking offensively, but they will have ace Brandon Woodruff on the mound Tuesday night. In 15 starts this season, Woodruff is 6-3 with a 1.89 ERA, making him a legitimate Cy Young contender. However, June has been his worst month of the season, pitching to a 3.75 ERA over his last four starts.
Of course, the Chicago lineup continues to struggle, although four runs on Monday night is actually an improvement. In their last 15 games, the Cubs are averaging just 2.4 runs per game. They’ve continued to hit plenty of home runs during that stretch but aren’t getting enough runners on base for those home runs because nobody on the team is hitting for a high average right now other than Jason Heyward.
Not the Right Time
With Woodruff on the mound and the Brewers scoring 14 runs on Monday, now is not the time to bet on Milwaukee’s winning streak coming to an end. While Davies will give the Cubs a decent chance, giving them some value, a lot of things will have to go wrong for Milwaukee to lose this game. Bet on the Brewers to keep rolling on Tuesday.
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