Phillies vs. Brewers Series Preview (5/31-6/2)

Yeah, let's just call it a 4-game series split. The Phils managed to take one at Fenway, and one at CBP from the 4-game home and home split. The games they lost had glaring reasons why, and the games they won? Well, it was mostly thanks to one Domonic Brown. Tyler Cloyd and Jonathan Pettibone got hit hard, and the back-end of the bullpen continued to show it's vulnerability. Kyle Kendrick and Cliff Lee as per usual this season, shined.

With the way this season is shaking out, .500 is a mythical creature for the Phils. 16 times this season they have been 2 games within .500, and they've only been at that .500 mark twice. Relief may come against the Milwaukee Brewers. The Prince Fielder-less Brewers still yield high caliber players like Ryan Braun and Nori Aoki, and their ace Yovani Gallardo could obviously shut the Phils down. That being said, Mike Fiers and Wily Peralta don't scare me.

Let's talk about Domonic Brown for a bit. The reigning National League player of the week shined in the two Boston series, belting four home runs (two in Wednesday's game). He's hitting .385 with 5 HR in his last 7 days, and is on pace to take National League player of the week honors this week. A trip to New York for the All Star Game isn't out of the question at this current pace. Brown sits 1 homer behind Justin Upton for tops in the National League, and has raised his average to .268. The three starters that the Brew Crew will throw out this weekend are just the kind of hitters that Brown can tee off of. Not to say that Brown can't hit lefties, he's got 4 homers this season off lefties, only one behind the Orioles Chris Davis (who currently resides on another planet).

I've looked like a fool in these previews before, but I expect the Phillies to be exactly one game over .500 come this Monday.