Riding a grueling 17-game marathon, baseball's best team heads west to face the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
There's no denying that this West Coast trip will define just how good this Milwaukee Brewers team truly is.
Currently 74-44, this could be a case of Milwaukee catching the Los Angeles Dodgers at the right time, but the Brewers are likely going to have Shane Drohan and Robert Gasser pitch in the first two games of the series.
Things could work out just fine, or they'll have a depleted bullpen and won't get the length they need out of their starters, and it will be a disastrous series.
Fresh off an extra-innings win, the Brewers boarded a plane to California, where they're set to play three games against the San Diego Padres and then four against the back-to-back World Series champions.
To make things even worse, this is a stretch of seven games in seven days that puts an end to a grueling 17 day-span, one that has seen them play 17 straight games.
Brewers start with three games in San Diego
All three pitching matchups have been revealed for the Brewers vs. Padres series, and on paper, it's set to feature some really good battles.
Logan Henderson will put his 6-1 record to the test against the Padres' newest pitcher, Casey Mize. San Diego failed to join the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes, so they settled for Mize, someone who did not look great in his team debut.
Kyle Harrison vs. Walker Buehler headlines game two, while a pair of recently acquired pitchers in Dustin May and Robbie Ray will go head-to-head in the series finale.
Heading into this series, the Brewers still have the best record in all of baseball. They have a 5.5-game lead in the National League Central, while the Padres come in at 62-57, which puts them 8.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West.
NLCS Preview?
In what could be a 2026 National League Championship Series preview, the Brewers will play four games at Dodger Stadium from August 13-16.
Skubal is projected to start in the series finale, so there'll certainly be a little extra animosity in that one as LA beat out Milwaukee for the Detroit Tigers ace.
Remember, the Dodgers took two of three against the Brewers at American Family Field from May 22-24. Milwaukee grabbed game one of the series, 5-1, but then was outscored 16-4 in the remaining two games.
Not only that, but this is a Dodgers team that outscored the Brewers in last year's NLCS, 15-4.
