New York Yankees @ Milwaukee Brewers: Frankie Montas vs. Adrian Houser

The New York Yankees get set for their first visit to American Family Field since the 2014 season. It’s been so long that back then, it was named Miller Park, Ron Roenicke was managing, and Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez was the pitcher of record in the last game between these two franchises in Milwaukee. David Phelps started for New York and the likes of Yangervis Solarte, John Ryan Murphy, and Ichiro Suzuki were in the Yankees’ lineup.

The combination of the Yankees’ four-game winning streak and the Blue Jays and Rays battling it out head-to-head this week has lowered the magic number to 13. New York has regained some of that cushion in the AL East, and they now sitting seven games ahead of Toronto and Tampa Bay in the loss column.

It wasn’t that long ago that the Brewers held the lead in the NL Central, but a .500 run over their last 30 games and a dominant second half from the St. Louis Cardinals, has turned a repeat of the division title into nothing more than a wild fantasy at this point. In fact, at this point, Craig Counsell will happily settle for a sixth seed in the National League, and a playoff appearance. The Brew Crew currently trails the San Diego Padres for that postseason berth by a game and a half.

Trade deadline addition Frankie Montas needs better command than he had in his previous outing, issuing four free passes to the Rays in the Bronx. A start closer to the one on September 4th at Tropicana Field would be better, as in that one, he threw five shutout innings with no walks, one hit allowed, and seven strikeouts. As has been well-chronicled, he hasn’t exactly been the pitcher who the Yankees hoped for when they acquired him from Oakland.

Montas will be opposed by right-hander Adrian Houser, who’ll make his first career start against the Yankees. The 29-year-old has slumped to a 4.61 ERA and 4.67 FIP in 2022 after posting a 3.22 ERA and 4.12 FIP in 29 starts last year. At his best, he’s a groundball pitcher who doesn’t strike out too many hitters.

Location: American Family Field— Milwaukee, WI

First pitch: 8:10 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES Network, Bally Sports Wisconsin, MLB Network (out-of-market only)

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9, WADO 1280

Online stream: MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

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