Milwaukee Brewers vs. Cincinnati Reds: A Four-Game Series Preview (June 29 – July 2)

What’s Going On?

The Milwaukee Brewers are back at it again — this time hosting the Cincinnati Reds for a four-game series at home. These two teams just played each other less than a week ago, so there are no surprises here. Both teams know each other well, and every game matters as the season heats up heading into July.

How Are Both Teams Doing?

The Milwaukee Brewers

• The Brewers just swept the Reds at Great American Ballpark (meaning they won every game in that series).
• Then they came home to play the Cubs and won the first game, thanks to another great performance from pitcher Jacob Misiorowski.
• They dropped the last two games against the Cubs, but they still hold a 5.5-game lead in their division — that’s a pretty comfortable cushion!

The Cincinnati Reds

• After losing to the Brewers, the Reds went to Pittsburgh and bounced back nicely.
• They won two out of three games against the Pirates, and their offense finally woke up, scoring 19 runs over those three games.

Injury Updates

Brewers

• Good news! Left-handed pitcher Jared Koenig was activated from the injured list on Friday. This is a big deal because the Brewers had been running low on left-handed relievers. Four of their left-handed bullpen pitchers were all on the injured list at the same time, leaving only Aaron Ashby as the healthy lefty. Koenig’s return helps fill that gap.

Reds

• The Reds didn’t get anyone healthy back.
• They actually lost two more players:
  • Blake Dunn (outfielder) has a right elbow sprain, and there’s no set date for his return.
  • Tony Santillan (right-handed pitcher) has an oblique strain (that’s a muscle injury in the side of the torso). He won’t be back until at least after the All-Star break, which is a while away.

How Do These Teams Compare?

Here’s a quick look at how the Brewers and Reds stack up against each other:

What does this mean? The Brewers don’t hit a lot of home runs, but they’re really good at other parts of offense (like getting on base and scoring runs). Their pitching is elite — among the best in all of baseball. The Reds hit more home runs, but their overall offense and pitching aren’t as strong.

Game-by-Game Breakdown

Game 1 — Monday, June 29 @ 6:40 p.m.

Matchup: LHP Robert Gasser (Brewers) vs. LHP Nick Lodolo (Reds)

Robert Gasser (Brewers):

• Record: 1-3 | ERA: 4.50 | FIP: 5.14
• Has made 6 starts this season, pitching 30 innings total with 31 strikeouts.
• He’s looked really good in his last two games against the Guardians and Braves — he pitched 11 ⅔ innings, allowed only 2 runs, gave up 6 hits and 3 walks, and struck out 12 batters.
• His only career appearance against the Reds was a weird one last September: he pitched 2 ⅔ innings, allowed 4 runs (but none of them were earned, meaning they were caused by defensive mistakes, not his pitching). Even though his ERA was 0.00 in that game, he still got tagged with the loss.

Nick Lodolo (Reds):

• Record: 2-2 | ERA: 5.59 | FIP: 5.38
• Has had a disappointing season so far, with 38 strikeouts over 46 ⅔ innings.
• He did pitch well in his last start against the Brewers — 4 innings, zero runs, 2 hits, 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts on just 75 pitches. He had to leave the game after a ball came back and hit his left wrist, but he was dealing!
• In his career against Milwaukee, he’s actually been pretty solid: 1-1 with a 2.52 ERA and 35 strikeouts across 35 ⅔ innings.

Game 2 — Tuesday, June 30 @ 6:40 p.m.

Matchup: RHP Brandon Sproat (Brewers) vs. RHP Rhett Lowder (Reds)

Brandon Sproat (Brewers):

• Record: 2-4 | ERA: 5.43 | FIP: 5.07
• Started the season really rough, but has been looking much better lately.
• In his last two outings, the only real problem was giving up two home runs (one of which was a grand slam — that’s when a batter hits a home run with the bases loaded, scoring 4 runs at once).
• Against the A’s, Guardians, and the Reds, he pitched 15 ⅔ innings, allowed 5 earned runs, gave up 7 hits and 3 walks, and struck out 19.
• His best recent start was against Cincinnati last week: 6 innings, zero runs, only 1 hit, and 10 strikeouts on 80 pitches. That was dominant!
• His only other career appearance against the Reds was his MLB debut last season — 6 innings, 3 runs allowed, 7 strikeouts.

Rhett Lowder (Reds):

• Record: 3-5 | ERA: 4.81 | FIP: 4.68
• Having a pretty "meh" (just okay) season so far, with 48 strikeouts over 58 innings in 12 starts.
• In his last start against the Brewers (last week), he allowed 3 runs on 8 hits and a walk, struck out 6, and took the loss in a 6-5 game.
• That was his second career appearance against Milwaukee, and he’s now 0-2 against them, having allowed 4 runs with 12 strikeouts over 9 ⅔ innings.

Game 3 — Wednesday, July 1 @ 7:10 p.m.

Matchup: LHP Shane Drohan (Brewers) vs. LHP Andrew Abbott (Reds)

Shane Drohan (Brewers):

• Record: 3-2 | ERA: 3.12 | FIP: 3.15
• He’s become the sixth man in Milwaukee’s starting rotation (basically a spot starter who fills in regularly).
• He’s been solid in this role, with 52 strikeouts over 52 innings.
• His last five appearances have all been as a starter.
• In his last start against the Reds, he pitched 4 ⅓ innings, allowed zero runs, but gave up 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5 on 98 pitches. He’ll try to pitch deeper into the game this time.

Andrew Abbott (Reds):

• Record: 5-4 | ERA: 3.90 | FIP: 5.05
• Was an All-Star last season (one of the best players in the league!), but he hasn’t been quite as sharp this year.
• His ERA (3.90) looks decent, but his FIP (5.05) is more than a full run higher — that suggests he might have been a little lucky and could pitch worse going forward.
• He’s also striking out batters at a much lower rate than before, with only 70 strikeouts over 90 innings.
• In his last start against the Pirates, he gave up 4 runs (3 earned) over 5 ⅓ innings, struck out 6, and didn’t factor into the decision.
• In his career against the Brewers, he’s 3-4 with a 3.74 ERA and 44 strikeouts across 45 ⅔ innings in 8 starts.

Game 4 — Thursday, July 2 @ 1:10 p.m.

Matchup: RHP Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers) vs. TBD (Reds — likely Chase Burns)

Jacob Misiorowski (Brewers):

• Record: 9-3 | ERA: 1.45 | FIP: 1.84
• He is dominating baseball right now. He leads the entire league in:
  • ERA (1.45) — that’s how many runs he allows per game on average, and it’s the best in baseball
  • FIP (1.84) — a similar stat that focuses only on things the pitcher controls
  • Strikeouts (146) — most in the league
  • WHIP (0.768) — walks plus hits per inning pitched; lower is better, and his is the best
• In his last start against the Cubs, he pitched 6 strong innings, allowed 1 run on 2 hits and 4 walks, and struck out 8.
• He didn’t face the Reds in the most recent series, but he did play against them twice last season without much success — 3 ⅔ total innings, 7 runs allowed (6 earned), 7 hits, 6 walks, and 6 strikeouts. However, one of those rough outings was that wild game where Milwaukee was losing 8-1 but came back to win 10-8!

Chase Burns (Reds) — Likely Starter:

• Record: 9-1 | ERA: 2.36 | FIP: 3.17
• The Reds haven’t officially announced their starter, but this would be Chase Burns’ turn in the rotation.
• He’s looked fantastic in his second MLB season, with 112 strikeouts over 91 ⅔ innings.
• The Brewers missed facing him in the last rotation turn, but he struggled in his last start against the Pirates — 5 runs allowed on 9 hits, but he still struck out 10 over 6+ innings.
• His only career appearance against Milwaukee was last September — 1 ⅔ innings in relief, zero runs, zero hits, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts.

This could be the best matchup of the series! Two young, electric pitchers going head-to-head in the series finale.

How to Watch and Listen

Heads up! Wednesday’s game is only on ESPN and the ESPN App — it won’t be on regular Brewers TV, so make sure you have access to ESPN if you want to watch that one.

Final Prediction

This is a really important stretch for the Brewers. They’re playing a lot of games against teams in their own division (the NL Central), and these games can make or break their lead. Manager Pat Murphy and the team know what’s at stake.

The prediction: Milwaukee takes 3 out of 4 games.

Summary

• The Brewers are coming off a sweep of the Reds and a series loss to the Cubs, but they still hold a 5.5-game division lead.
• The Reds bounced back against the Pirates but have injury concerns with Blake Dunn and Tony Santillan both out.
• The Brewers got Jared Koenig back from the injured list, which is a big boost for their bullpen.
• Milwaukee’s pitching is among the best in baseball (2nd in ERA, 1st in strikeouts), while Cincinnati’s pitching ranks near the bottom.
• The Reds hit more home runs, but the Brewers have the better overall offense and pitching.
• The series features some exciting pitching matchups, especially the likely Misiorowski vs. Burns showdown in Game 4.
• Wednesday’s game is exclusively on ESPN, so plan accordingly.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Why is Jared Koenig’s return such a big deal for the Brewers?
A: The Brewers had four left-handed relievers on the injured list at the same time, which left them with only one healthy left-handed pitcher in their bullpen (Aaron Ashby). Koenig’s return gives them another reliable lefty option out of the bullpen, which is important because managers often need left-handed pitchers to face certain batters.

Q: What does ERA mean, and why is Jacob Misiorowski’s so impressive?
A: ERA stands for Earned Run Average. It measures how many runs a pitcher allows per nine innings, but only runs that were earned (not caused by errors or defensive mistakes). The lower the ERA, the better. A good ERA is usually around 3.50 or below. Misiorowski’s ERA of 1.45 is incredible — it means he allows, on average, only about 1.5 runs per game. That’s the best in all of baseball right now.

Q: What’s the difference between the Brewers TV broadcast and the ESPN broadcast on Wednesday?
A: The first, second, and fourth games will be shown on the regular Brewers TV network (the local channel that usually carries Brewers games). But Wednesday’s game is a national broadcast on ESPN, meaning it’s only available on ESPN and the ESPN App — not on the usual Brewers TV channel.

Q: What does it mean that the Brewers rank near the bottom in home runs but still have a top-10 offense?
A: It means the Brewers don’t hit many home runs (only 73 as a team, tied for 26th out of 30 teams), but they’re really good at other ways of scoring runs — like getting hits, walking, stealing bases, and moving runners over. They manufacture runs in different ways instead of relying on the long ball. It’s like the difference between a team that only scores by dunking versus a team that scores in lots of different ways.

Q: Why is this series considered so important for the Brewers?
A: Because they’re playing against a division rival (the Reds). Games against teams in your own division matter more for playoff positioning because tiebreakers are often determined by how you perform against divisional opponents. The Brewers have a 5.5-game lead, but a bad series could shrink that lead quickly, while a strong series could make it almost insurmountable.