Brewers host the Cubs to open 3-game series

Chicago Cubs (38-44, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (48-33, first in the NL Central)

Milwaukee; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Jameson Taillon (4-3, 2.90 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 53 strikeouts); Brewers: Colin Rea (6-2, 3.62 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 54 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Brewers -134, Cubs +113; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Milwaukee Brewers begin a three-game series at home against the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

Milwaukee has a 25-12 record at home and a 48-33 record overall. The Brewers have hit 83 total home runs to rank sixth in the NL.

Chicago is 38-44 overall and 16-26 in road games. The Cubs are 26-7 in games when they scored five or more runs.

The teams match up Friday for the eighth time this season. The Brewers are up 4-3 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: William Contreras has 19 doubles, a triple and nine home runs while hitting .292 for the Brewers. Brice Turang is 13-for-44 with a double, a triple and two home runs over the past 10 games.

Christopher Morel leads Chicago with 15 home runs while slugging .384. Ian Happ is 9-for-35 with three home runs and nine RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Brewers: 6-4, .264 batting average, 4.03 ERA, outscored opponents by six runs

Cubs: 4-6, .257 batting average, 4.80 ERA, outscored by seven runs

INJURIES: Brewers: Oliver Dunn: 10-Day IL (back), Joey Ortiz: day-to-day (neck), Gary Sanchez: 10-Day IL (calf), Robert Gasser: 60-Day IL (flexor), D.L. Hall: 60-Day IL (knee), Joe Ross: 15-Day IL (back), J.B. Bukauskas: 60-Day IL (lat), Wade Miley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Garrett Mitchell: 60-Day IL (finger), Devin Williams: 60-Day IL (back), Taylor Clarke: 15-Day IL (meniscus), Brandon Woodruff: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Cubs: Yency Almonte: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Javier Assad: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Mark Leiter Jr.: 15-Day IL (forearm), Mike Tauchman: 10-Day IL (groin), Jordan Wicks: 15-Day IL (oblique), Ben Brown: 15-Day IL (neck), Adbert Alzolay: 60-Day IL (forearm), Daniel Palencia: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Julian Merryweather: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Caleb Kilian: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.