The visiting Milwaukee Brewers have won the battle of the bullpens against the Toronto Blue Jays so far in their three-game series.
The Brewers will look for another strong performance from their bullpen as the team bids for a series sweep on Sunday afternoon in a matchup of division leaders.
Milwaukee scored five runs against Toronto’s bullpen in a 7-2 win in the series opener on Friday.
On Saturday, the Brewers scored three runs in the ninth inning that included back-to-back homers by Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich against Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman in a 4-1 victory.
Chourio made an impressive return after missing a month with a strained hamstring. He was 2-for-4 and was robbed of a first-inning homer on center fielder Myles Straw’s leaping catch at the wall.
The Brewers have the best record in the majors, and the Blue Jays entered the series with the second-best mark. The Detroit Tigers edged past the Blue Jays with their win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
Milwaukee has excelled despite dealing with injuries to key players. Most recently, the Brewers put closer Trevor Megill on the 15-day injured list with a right flexor strain before this series.
Hard-throwing Abner Uribe earned the save on Saturday.
“We’re playing together,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “We’re still learning about each other, you know. We’re still learning what we can and cannot do. Revolving door with all the injuries we’ve had this year, and somebody else steps up.”
The Brewers are 21-8 in August, and the Blue Jays are 14-12.
Right-hander Brandon Woodruff (5-1, 3.10 ERA) is slated to start for Milwaukee on Sunday. He has never faced Toronto.
Woodruff earned the win on Monday despite allowing five runs on as many hits in 5 2/3 innings in Milwaukee’s 7-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The team is 8-1 in his starts this season.
Toronto is expected to start right-hander Max Scherzer (5-2, 3.82), who is 3-5 with a 2.88 ERA in 14 career games (13 starts) against Milwaukee.
Scherzer has allowed 13 home runs this season in 66 innings over his 12 starts, including two in Toronto’s 10-4 win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday.
Toronto’s bullpen has become an ongoing problem.
According to Sportsnet Stats, Toronto’s starters have a 3.74 ERA since the All-Star break, and the relievers are at 5.72. The 1.98 differential is the largest in the majors during that time frame.
A major source of concern is Hoffman, who has allowed 14 home runs in 56 1/3 innings. He has given up 12 of those homers in the ninth inning or later, a franchise record, according to Sportsnet Stats.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he is staying with Hoffman as his closer.
“Hoff’s got 29 saves; he has shown that he can do it,” Schneider said. “We have to figure it out, not just him, but multiple guys in the ‘pen — in terms of strike throwing, in terms of locating. But, again, we’re going to try to make the best decision for everyone.”
Toronto has had other problems against the Brewers. The Blue Jays have only three runs (two earned) in the series. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly on Saturday and is 1-for-20 since missing four games with a hamstring issue. He returned as a pinch hitter last Sunday.
Toronto’s Bo Bichette was 1-for-4 to extend his hit streak to 14 games in which he is 24-for-56 (.429).
Milwaukee’s Brice Turang was 0-for-4 to end a 12-game hitting streak.