Game: Arizona Diamondbacks @ Milwaukee Brewers
Time: 7:08 p.m.
Odds: Diamondbacks +159, Brewers -174
Total: 7.5
When the National League Central champion Milwaukee Brewers host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday in the first game of their best-of-three wild-card series, they will turn to ace right-hander Corbin Burnes. Rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (3-9, 5.72 ERA), who will be facing the Brewers for the first time, will take on Burnes (10-8, 3.39 ERA). In their six regular-season meetings, Arizona (84-78) and Milwaukee (92-70) each won three games.
When it was revealed on Monday that right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who was scheduled to start the second game, would miss the entire series due to a right shoulder injury, it was devastating for the Brewers and cast doubt on the rest of the postseason.
The Diamondbacks, who made the playoffs for the first time since 2017 despite finishing the regular season with four straight losses, got the final wild card on Saturday when other playoff contenders also dropped out. Arizona finished 16 games behind Los Angeles despite being tied with the Dodgers for first place in the NL West at the All-Star break with a record of 52-39. The Diamondbacks, who lost 110 games in 2021, became just the third team in major league history to reach the playoffs after such a season.
The Diamondbacks scored just two runs and went 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position as they were swept by Houston to end the season. Against the Astros, Arizona also used its two best-starting pitchers, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly.
Milwaukee was 27-13 over its final 40 games as it made the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons. Catcher William Contreras enters the postseason with an 18-game hitting streak. Over his final 39 games, he hit .342 (52-for-152) with five home runs, 11 doubles, 24 RBIs, 25 walks, and 33 runs.
With the trade deadline additions of Mark Canha and Carlos Santana, Milwaukee’s offense improved. From August 1 to October 1, Canha had 33 RBIs, which was second most on the team to Contreras’s (34) total. After being acquired from Pittsburgh, Santana played in 52 games and had 11 home runs and 33 RBIs. Tyrone Taylor, an outfielder who missed most of the first half due to injury, finished the season batting .291 (23-for-79) with five home runs, nine doubles, and 17 RBIs.
In five starts in September, Burnes was 1-1 with a 2.51 ERA, including three scoreless outings. In his final two appearances, he pitched nine scoreless innings while scattering seven hits. Burnes walked 66 batters while striking out 200, reaching that mark for the third consecutive season. The opposition is at batting .200 against him and only .183 in September. In five career starts against Arizona, Burnes is 2-1, including 1-1 with a 4.85 ERA in two games this year.
In five appearances in September, including four starts, Pfaadt was 2-2 with a 4.32 ERA. He did not allow a run in two of his most recent three starts. In a crucial 3-0 victory over the White Sox in his last start, he gave up five hits over 5.1 innings. He didn’t allow a run, struck out eight, and walked none. Arizona’s Corbin Carroll is in line to win the NL Rookie of the Year after hitting .285 with 25 home runs and 76 RBIs.
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