Brewers will need to bring bats against Padres' stingy staff
When the Milwaukee Brewers meet the San Diego Padres for a four-game series starting Monday night at Miller Park, they'll need to bring their bats.
The Padres (51-54), who are 10-5 since the All-Star break, have held hitters to a league-low .220 average over that stretch. The Brewers are tied for 22nd in the majors in team batting average (.249) and likely won't get any breaks from the San Diego staff.
Here's a look at the teams with the lowest opponent batting average since the All-Star Game.
Lowest Opponent BA, Post All-Star Game
| Team | Opp. BA |
| San Diego Padres | .220 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | .226 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | .228 |
| Miami Marlins | .232 |
| Los Angeles Angels | .237 |
If there's one player whose bat can best help determine Milwaukee's chances for success, it's right fielder Ryan Braun. Since the start of 2013, the Brewers have lost just twice when Braun gets three or more hits. In Sunday's loss to the Chicago Cubs, he went 3-for-4, which snapped the team's 15-game win streak when Braun records at least three hits. Milwaukee's been almost as successful when catcher Jonathan Lucroy does it.
Here's a look at the best records of teams when a player has three or more hits in a game, since 2013.
Best Record When Player Has 3+ Hits in Game
| Player | Record | Win pct. |
| Brandon Moss | 16-1 | .941 |
| Allen Craig | 15-1 | .938 |
| Wil Myers | 14-1 | .933 |
| Ryan Braun | 17-2 | .895 |
| Jonathan Lucroy | 25-3 | .893 |
| Chris Johnson | 25-3 | .893 |
Recent history suggests Milwaukee should be able to get some hits and score some runs for its Monday night starting pitcher, Wily Peralta, who's making his second start since returning from an oblique injury. After getting a total of just three runs of support over his first five starts this season (0.87 RSA), Peralta has been the beneficiary of much more production since then. In his last five outings, he's gotten the second-most run support in baseball (minimum five starts).
Here's a look at the MLB pitchers who've gotten the most average run support per nine innings since May 6.
Highest Average Run Support per 9 IP
| Player | Team | RSA |
| Ricky Nolasco | Minnesota Twins | 10.22 |
| Wily Peralta | Milwaukee Brewers | 9.00 |
| Nathan Eovaldi | New York Yankees | 8.70 |
| Colby Lewis | Texas Rangers | 7.65 |
| Andrew Heaney | Los Angeles Angels | 7.49 |
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