Crew ready for Reds: 'Every series is huge'

MILWAUKEE -- Every other time the Brewers have faced the Reds this season, their primary aim has been to contain Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos.

Now, as the National League Central’s top two teams prepare for their final set of the 2021 regular season, an old foe is in the category of “don’t let that guy beat you.” Joey Votto is as hot as he’s ever been in his Hall of Fame-caliber career, going into Sunday’s series finale against the Marlins with a remarkable 17 home runs in his last 31 games, all since the All-Star break, including a stretch of seven consecutive games with a homer in late July.

“It’s incredible,” said Milwaukee righty Corbin Burnes, slated to start the opener of a three-game series between the Reds and Brewers on Tuesday at American Family Field. “I think he’s getting close to 40 now, and the production he’s put up this year -- I know people liked to talk down on him two or three years ago when he wasn’t putting up big numbers after signing the big contract. The way he’s going at it this year is back to prime Joey Votto.

“That’s a good lineup. They’ve got Jesse Winker down right now [with an intercostal strain], which I think changes their lineup quite a bit. I don’t think people realize what he had done for his lineup, just his presence with the other left-handed bats. It will definitely be a different-looking lineup than what I faced last time.”

The Brewers and Reds have split the first 16 games of their season series, with the road team winning a whopping 13 of the 16 games.

“It's the next series. It's the next challenge in front of us, and we take it as that,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “They're an intradivisional team, they're the team that's closest to us, so they're the next challenge. We'll tackle it like that.”

Here are the pitching probables for the three-game set:

RHP Corbin Burnes (8-4, 2.13 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Mahle (10-4, 3.78 ERA)
RHP Brandon Woodruff (7-7, 2.48 ERA) vs. RHP Luis Castillo (7-12, 4.35 ERA)
LHP Brett Anderson (4-7, 4.15 ERA) vs. RHP Sonny Gray (5-6, 4.15 ERA)

The Brewers are missing the third member of their “Big Three” starters, Freddy Peralta, who is on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation. But the Reds will face Milwaukee’s other two top starters, including Burnes, who has 175 strikeouts against 23 walks in 2021. He pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts against the Reds in his only start against Cincinnati this season on July 18, an 8-0 Brewers win.

“Three huge games,” Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson said. “But if we can go out there and sweep [the Brewers], that’s going to make things really interesting.”

Said former Brewer and current Red Mike Moustakas, who is healthy again after two months on the IL with a heel injury: “If [winning the division] our goal, which it is, we have to go out there and win every single game.”

After play on Sunday, the Brewers (76-49) have a 7 1/2-game edge over the Reds (69-57) in the division standings, while the Reds lead the Padres (68-58) by one game for the second NL Wild Card spot.

“Every series is huge. This is the last series we have with the Reds for the year,” Burnes said. “With them being as [far] back as they are, it’s kind of a big series, I think, for them more than for us. Right now, they’re tied for that second Wild Card spot, so every game is big for them. For us at this stage, I think it’s more about us staying healthy and getting everyone ready to go for that postseason race. Every game I go out and pitch is the biggest one.”

Burnes is 6-0 with a 2.01 ERA over his last 13 starts, including that stellar outing at Cincinnati and another gem at Wrigley Field against the Cubs, when he struck out 15 over eight scoreless innings and matched an all-time MLB record by striking out 10 consecutive batters in one stretch.

“Right now, my body feels better than it did in May and June,” Burnes said. “I think I’ve done a good job of taking care of business between starts, getting my body prepared. Sitting here in mid-August, it’s probably the best I’ve felt all year. The focus for me is to continue to do what I can in-between starts to continue to feel this good come mid-October.”