Brewers-Braves series to feature rare combo of speed, power

Here comes a statement series at Miller Park.

Fresh off a sweep of San Diego, the Atlanta Braves roll into Milwaukee with a 57-37 record, a seven-game lead in the National League East and a lineup that would give even the 1997 Braves’ starting rotation headaches.

Milwaukee, on the other hand, has sputtered to a 48-46 record and needs a momentum-changing series win to get the second half of the season back on track.

This is a great opportunity.

Dating back to the beginning of the 2018 season, Milwaukee and Atlanta are the only two teams in the National League to rank in the top four in both home runs and stolen bases. The Brewers rank second among NL teams with 375 home runs and leads the league in stolen bases (186) in that span.

This season, the Brewers top the NL in both categories this season with 157 homers and 62 stolen bases.

It comes as no surprise, but Christian Yelich and Ronald Acuna Jr. are the main contributors to those numbers on their respective teams.

That pair of All-Stars make up half of the players that have already reached 20+ homers and 10+ stolen bases this year. Yelich leads the NL in both categories with has 32 homers and 21 stolen bases, while Acuna Jr. tops his team in stolen bases (12) and ranks second in dingers (23).

The three-game set begins Monday night with Adrian Houser on the mound for the Brewers. Atlanta will counter with Max Fried, who ranks fifth among NL pitchers age 25 or younger with 97 strikeouts.

NOTABLE

— Milwaukee has won four of the last five matchups against Atlanta at Miller Park, dating back to April 30, 2017. The Brewers crushed nine homers in those five games compared to just one for the Braves.

— Josh Donaldson’s resurgent season continues. The Braves’ third baseman is tied for first among NL players for runs scored (11) and homers (6) since the start of July.

— Keston Hiura has eight homers through his first 30 career MLB games, which is the most for a rookie through 30 games in Milwaukee franchise history.

— Christian Yelich and Mike Moustakas have mashed 87 combined home runs since the Brewers traded for Moose on July 28 last season. That’s the most dingers for a pair of teammates in that span, ahead of San Diego sluggers Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes (81). Acuna Jr. and Freddie Freeman have combined for 70, which ranks fourth.

— Houser owns a 1.05 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 10.2 K/9 in 14 appearances as a reliever this season. As a starter, Houser has posted an 8.47 ERA, 2.18 WHIP and has allowed 2.7 homers per nine innings through five outings.

Statistics courtesy Sportradar, baseball-reference.com