Homer-happy Brewers to be tested against stingy Marlins staff
Home run. Dinger. Tater. Moon shot. Long bomb. Upper-decker.
Brewers fans had to dig deep into their baseball synonyms Thursday night when Milwaukee’s high-powered offense hit six homers in a 11-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
It’s the second-most home runs in a single game in franchise history, and the first time the Brewers had hit that many since 2007.
Milwaukee hit seven home runs on April 29, 1980 to set the franchise record.
But who knows how long that will last with the sluggers currently on roster.
Ryan Braun started out Thursday’s 11-run outburst with a solo shot in the first inning. His 294 career homers rank second among National League active outfielders, behind just the Mets’ Curtis Granderson (305).
Manny Pina was one of five Brewers to homer Thursday (Jonathan Villar went yard twice), bumping his season total to six. His .479 slugging percentage is third among NL catchers, just trailing Atlanta’s Tyler Flowers (.480) and the Giants’ Buster Posey (.529). Sixth on that list is J.T. Realmuto, the Miami Marlins’ 26-year-old catcher.
Milwaukee begins a three-game series with Realmuto and the Marlins on Friday night.
The Brewers’ power threat will be tested. Miami’s pitching staff has allowed just 21 home runs to opponents in the month of June, tied for the fewest in MLB. In fact, the Marlins are giving up just 0.82 home runs per nine innings in June. Miami is 14-12 in that span.
NOTABLE
-- Matt Garza, who starts the series-opening game on Friday, has a 3.40 earned-run average in the first five innings.
-- After going 9-3 at home from April 24-May 14, the Brewers are 9-11 at Miller Park since. They’ll look to turn that around against the Marlins, a team the Brewers have yet to face this season.
-- Milwaukee still leads MLB with 68 first-inning runs. The Brewers have a +26 run differential in the opening inning, which also leads the big leagues.
-- The Brewers have struggled as of late against Miami, losing eight of their last 12 matchups. However, Milwaukee had a 20-8 record against the Marlins from 2011-14.
Statistics courtesy STATS
