Reds vs Brewers opens Monday night with Robert Gasser set to start for Milwaukee against Nick Lodolo in the first game of a four-game home series. The Brewers enter with a 5.5-game lead in the NL Central, and the matchup comes after both teams spent the weekend dealing with different kinds of momentum.
Robert Gasser And Nick Lodolo
Monday’s opener is scheduled for 6:40 p.m., with LHP Robert Gasser opposing LHP Nick Lodolo. Gasser has made six starts and logged 30 innings with a 4.50 ERA, a 5.14 FIP and 31 strikeouts, and he had not pitched since last Sunday in Atlanta.
Lodolo brings a longer track record against Milwaukee. In seven career appearances and six starts against the Brewers, he is 1-1 with a 2.52 ERA and 35 strikeouts across 35 2/3 innings, even though his season line sits at a 5.59 ERA, 5.38 FIP and 38 strikeouts over 46 2/3 innings.
Jared Koenig Joins Milwaukee
Jared Koenig returned to the Brewers bullpen on Friday after being activated from the injured list, and his timing matters because Aaron Ashby was the lone healthy left-handed pitcher there before the move. Milwaukee did not need to overhaul the group to get him back; it just needed another left-handed option available as the series opened.
That fits the shape of the roster around this series. The Brewers already had a staff built around run prevention, with a 3.42 ERA and 788 strikeouts over 716 2/3 innings entering Sunday, while the Reds came in at 4.51 ERA with 652 strikeouts.
Milwaukee And Cincinnati
The contrast is sharper on offense. The Reds had 100 home runs to Milwaukee’s 73, but the Brewers also had 346 runs scored and the stronger overall pitching numbers. That combination is why a power edge alone has not been enough to erase Milwaukee’s division cushion.
The recent form around the series supports that split. Milwaukee swept the Reds at Great American Ballpark less than a week earlier, then returned home to beat the Cubs in the opener behind another strong showing from Jacob Misiorowski before dropping the final two games. Cincinnati took two of three from the Pirates in Pittsburgh over the weekend and scored 19 runs in those three games.
The opener also sets up the rest of the week. Tuesday’s game is scheduled for 6:40 p.m., with RHP Brandon Sproat facing RHP Rhett Lowder, so Milwaukee’s rotation and bullpen work will keep carrying the load while Cincinnati tries to close the gap created by the sweep and the 5.5-game lead.
For the Reds, the bullpen injury picture is still part of the story. Tony Santillan was placed on the injured list with an oblique strain and was expected to be out until at least after the All-Star break, while Blake Dunn carried a TBD return after a right elbow sprain.
For Milwaukee, Koenig’s return gives the bullpen another left-handed arm behind Ashby as the Brewers try to protect a lead built on run prevention rather than volume power. That is the simplest edge in this series, and it starts with Gasser trying to set the tone against Lodolo on Monday night.
