CHICAGO -- Given the state of the Brewers’ pitching, a rainout wasn’t the worst thing.
Monday night’s scheduled series opener at Wrigley Field between the Brewers and Cubs was washed out after a delay of nearly two hours, and it was rescheduled as a split doubleheader with a pair of seven-inning games on Tuesday. Game 1 is scheduled to begin at 1:20 p.m. CT, with Game 2 set for 7:05 p.m. CT.
Freddy Peralta, who had been lined up to pitch Monday, will start Game 1 on Tuesday instead. The Brewers will promote left-handed pitching prospect Aaron Ashby -- the club's No. 7 prospect per MLB Pipeline -- to make his second career start in Game 2. Ashby will fill one of the rotation spots vacated by Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser, both of whom tested positive for COVID-19 last week and are on the injured list.
Shaving four innings off the scheduled duration of this four-game series is not necessarily a bad thing for the Brewers, whose pitching took a hit over the past two weeks as nine players, including six pitchers, landed on the COVID-related IL. Milwaukee reinstated reliever Hunter Strickland from the COVID IL on Monday and are expected to do the same for another reliever, Jake Cousins, on Tuesday.
The wild card is the 23-year-old Ashby, who made his Major League debut as the Brewers’ starting pitcher against the Cubs at American Family Field on June 30. Ashby was charged with seven runs (four earned) on four hits and three walks while recording only two outs in the first inning. He was subsequently optioned back to the Minors.
Ashby last started on Thursday for Triple-A Nashville, striking out five of the first six batters he faced and 11 batters overall in six innings of scoreless, one-hit ball. He is 5-4 with a 4.48 ERA in 20 games (11 starts) for the Sounds this season.
Provided Mother Nature cooperates, Tuesday will be the Brewers’ third doubleheader this season. They swept a twin bill at the Nationals in May and split another at the Mets in July.