Brewers beat Braves twice, hold 5.5-game lead
Milwaukee took two of three from Atlanta to build a 5.5-game lead in the NL Central, and sends Kyle Harrison to the mound tonight against the Mets.
Two of three from Atlanta
Braves2-1Braves4-1Braves2-4The Brewers won the first two games of their weekend series with the Braves, 2-1 on August 21 and 4-1 on August 22, before Atlanta closed it out with a 4-2 win on August 23. It leaves Milwaukee 3-2 over its last five games, sandwiching the Braves series around a split with Seattle the weekend before.
In Sunday's loss, Shane Drohan went 5.0 innings, allowing 8 hits and 2 earned runs while walking 3 and striking out 5. The Athletic's Eno Sarris wrote that when the Brewers acquired Drohan, he already had the riding cutter they wanted; what they've since added is a sinker, giving him what Sarris called a completed 'tri-force' of fastballs.
The bullpen still won't have Abner Uribe or JoJo Romero back for a while yet. Both are set to begin rehab assignments Tuesday at High-A Wisconsin, Uribe working back from a forearm issue and Romero from an appendectomy.
Five and a half clear of Chicago
| NL Central | W | L | Pct | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brewers | 81 | 50 | .618 | — |
 Cubs | 76 | 56 | .576 | 5.5 |
 Cardinals | 66 | 66 | .500 | 15.5 |
 Pirates | 64 | 69 | .481 | 18.0 |
 Reds | 62 | 70 | .470 | 19.5 |
At 81-50, Milwaukee sits atop the NL Central with a 5.5-game lead over the second-place Cubs, whose elimination number is down to 26. St. Louis is 15.5 back, Pittsburgh 18.0 back and Cincinnati 19.5 back, none of them within realistic striking distance with the season entering its final stretch.
The Cubs remain the only team in the division that has to be watched, and even they're already fighting a losing battle against the calendar. Every game Milwaukee wins from here shaves further off that number and pushes the division race closer to a formality.
Upcoming
The Brewers are in New York tonight, with Kyle Harrison on the mound against Zac Thornton. Harrison is 10-3 with a 2.84 ERA and was dominant in his last start against Seattle on August 18, throwing 5.0 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts against 2 walks on 79 pitches. Thornton, at 3-4 with a 3.04 ERA, was roughed up in his last outing, allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits over 5.0 innings against San Diego on August 18, taking the loss.
Garrett Mitchell is day-to-day after a forearm contusion Sunday against Atlanta, so the Brewers may again be without their center fielder.
Milwaukee is favored on the road, with the market pointing toward a low-scoring game — a read that lines up with Harrison's recent form and a Mets offense that got to Thornton's own rotation-mate for seven hits last time out. If Harrison pitches like he did against Seattle, that number holds up easily.