Miami faces Milwaukee, looks to build on Alcantara's solid outing
Miami Marlins (23-36, fifth in the NL East) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (34-28, second in the NL Central)
Milwaukee; Thursday, 2 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Marlins: Caleb Smith (3-3, 3.10 ERA, .95 WHIP, 80 strikeouts) Brewers: Freddy Peralta (2-2, 5.68 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 43 strikeouts)
LINE: Brewers favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Miami heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Sandy Alcantara. Alcantara went seven innings, surrendering one run on five hits with five strikeouts against Milwaukee.
The Brewers are 18-13 in home games. Milwaukee has a collective on-base percentage of .323, good for third in the National League. Christian Yelich leads the club with a mark of .404.
The Marlins are 12-18 on the road. Miami has hit 47 home runs this season, the lowest total in the majors. Jorge Alfaro leads the club with nine, averaging one every 18.1 at-bats.
TOP PERFORMERS: Yelich leads the Brewers with 22 home runs and is batting .320. Yasmani Grandal has 11 hits and is batting .000 over the last 10 games for Milwaukee.
Alfaro leads the Marlins with nine home runs and has 25 RBIs. Garrett Cooper is 14-for-36 with a double, three home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Miami.
LAST 10 GAMES: Brewers: 5-5, .255 batting average, 5.97 ERA, outscored by 14 runs
Marlins: 7-3, .303 batting average, 3.38 ERA, outscored opponents by 36 runs
Brewers Injuries: Bobby Wahl: 60-day IL (knee), Brent Suter: 60-day IL (elbow), Corey Knebel: 60-day IL (elbow), Gio Gonzalez: 10-day IL (arm), Jhoulys Chacin: 10-day IL (back), Lorenzo Cain: day-to-day (thumb).
Marlins Injuries: Drew Steckenrider: 60-day IL (elbow), Riley Ferrell: 60-day IL (bicep), Julian Fernandez: 60-day IL (elbow), Peter O'Brien: 10-day IL (ribcage), Neil Walker: 10-day IL (quad), Jon Berti: 10-day IL (oblique), Chad Wallach: 10-day IL (concussion).
