When the Milwaukee Brewers have played in Dodgers Stadium in recent years, good things have happened. And when Zach Davies and Junior Guerra have pitched recently, good things have happened.
Is this a recipe for success for the Brewers in their four-game set in Los Angeles?
Since 2009, Milwaukee owns the best road record against the Dodgers (minimum 20 games) at 14-7 (.667 winning percentage). Only two other National League teams have a winning record at Dodger Stadium over that span: Philadelphia (14-11, .560) and Miami (13-12, .520).
Davies (Friday) and Guerra (Thursday) have a chance to extend Milwaukee's success. Both have been on pitching extremely well over the past five weeks.
DAVIES & GUERRA COMBINED SINCE MAY 3
Davies has allowed four earned run just once in his last eight starts and in two of this last three he hasn't allowed an earned run. In three starts in June, Davies has a 0.86 ERA and .114 opponent batting average.
Guerra hasn't allowed four earned runs in a game since his first two starts. Since then, he has allowed 0, 3, 0, 3, 3 and 1 earned run. He has a 2.84 ERA in two June starts.
If the Brewers are to win in Los Angeles, Ryan Braun could also play a big part. Braun has the fourth-highest career OPS at Dodger Stadium (min. 90 plate appearances). The top four are Al Kaline (who did it vs. the Los Angeles Angels), Brad Hawpe and Paul Goldschmidt.
Braun has played 22 games at Dodger Stadium, batting .333 with six home runs and 17 RBI.
Other notes:
-- Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy has hit .403 since May 27, posting multi-hit games in nine of the 17 contests over that stretch. Lucroy leads all qualifying catchers in batting average (.311), on-base percentage (.368), and OPS (.895) this season.
-- The Dodgers are averaging just 3.73 runs per game in night contests, which ranks 12th in the National League and 27th in the majors. The Brewers average 4.18 runs in night games (9th in NL, 17th in MLB).
-- Los Angeles is 11-1 this season when scoring 4+ runs at home.
-- Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir has defeated all 30 MLB teams in his career except one -- the Brewers. This will be Kazmir's first career start against Milwaukee. There are 17 pitchers who have beaten all 30 current franchises, including John Lackey, Max Scherzer and former Brewer Kyle Lohse.
Statistics courtesy STATS Inc.
