Series Preview: Milwaukee Brewers @ Los Angeles Dodgers

So, the Los Angeles Dodgers are pretty good this year.

They won their 90th game of the season yesterday. The next-best team in the Majors -- the Houston Astros -- have 77 wins. The Arizona Diamondbacks are 70-58. They are 21 games out of first place in the NL West.

The Brewers will be playing at Dodger Stadium this weekend. The Dodgers are 51-14 at home this season. Now, it's not impossible to win a series at Dodger Stadium this year. The Washington Nationals have done it! That happened on June 5th-7th. That's the last time it's happened.

The last time the Dodgers have lost two games in a row? July 20th and 21st to Atlanta.

If there's a bright side for the Brewers this weekend, it's that LA currently has Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood and eventual NL Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger all on the disabled list. Of course, they still have Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Chris Taylor, Yasiel Puig, Yasmani Grandal/Austin Barnes, and an unhittable bullpen. Oh, and they just traded for Curtis Granderson. But other than that, you know, there's not a lot to worry about.

Probable Pitchers

Friday, 9:10 p.m. CDT, FS Wisconsin - Chase Anderson vs. Kenta Maeda

After a rough start to the year, Maeda has settled into a pretty solid second professional season. When the Brewers saw him last in June, he came into Miller Park with a 5.21 ERA. He lasted only 4 innings in that start, allowing 2 runs but striking out 7. His ERA is now at 3.88, with a nearly identical 3.84 FIP. He's struck out 111 in 111.1 innings, walking only 27 batters all year. He has given up 16 home runs so far, but only 5 of those have come in the second half. If there's a bright spot for the Brewers, it's that he has been a little more hittable lately, allowing 7 runs in his past two starts, covering 11.1 innings (then again, he's also struck out 15 and walked 1 in those starts).

Saturday, 8:10 p.m. CDT, FS Wisconsin - Zach Davies vs. TBA

This was All-Star Alex Wood's spot in the rotation, but the Brewers may be catching a bit of a break with him recently landing on the disabled list. It's worth noting that Clayton Kershaw's own rehab schedule has him slated to pitch a minor league rehab game on this day, and Kershaw has said he would be ready to go if he's called on to start in the majors instead. But with a 21-game lead in the NL West, the Dodgers don't really have a reason to rush him back. Right now, it looks like Ross Stripling might get the start, with a slew of relievers to follow.

Sunday, 3:10 p.m. CDT, FS Wisconsin - Jimmy Nelson vs. Yu Darvish

Darvish is coming off of a quick stint on the disabled list to make this start (side note, if you want to know how the Dodgers have been able to win so many games this year, not being afraid to actually use the 10-day disabled list whenever someone has a mild injury is a part of it -- they give guys extra rest and don't force them to keep playing while banged up, and have the depth to cover). The deadline day rental has made 3 starts in LA so far, striking out 22 and walking 4 in 18 innings before coming down with the lower back stiffness that's sidelined him for the past 10 days.

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference