The Milwaukee Brewers are hoping hard-throwing Jacob Misiorowski will benefit from extended rest over the break when he opens the three-game series against the visiting New York Mets and former teammate Freddy Peralta on Monday.

Misiorowski (10-4, 1.62 ERA) will be making his first start in almost two weeks against Peralta (5-8, 4.66), who was traded to New York in January after eight seasons with Milwaukee and will be facing his former team for the first time.

Milwaukee completed a sweep of the Miami Marlins with a 3-1 victory on Sunday on William Contreras’ walk-off three-run homer in the ninth inning.

The Mets defeated Philadelphia 6-1 on Sunday behind rookie right-hander Nolan McLean, who struck out 10 over six scoreless innings. Francisco Lindor had three hits, including a two-run homer, and three RBIs.

Misiorowski, who was originally slated to start Tuesday but was bumped up a day, said he’s looking forward to the matchup against Peralta.

“That will be fun,” Misiorowski told MLB.com. “I want the best for Freddy. He’s an awesome guy. I love Freddy. … But he’s on the other team, so you’ve got to kick his (butt). That’s my job.”

Misiorowski, who leads the majors in ERA and strikeouts with 167, will be making his first start since July 7, when he allowed three runs on three hits, including two homers, over seven innings in a 4-3 win at St. Louis.

The 24-year-old right-hander, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, skipped his final start before the All-Star break due to arm fatigue. Misiorowski has thrown a career-high 111 innings in 18 starts after pitching 66 innings last season as a rookie in 15 regular-season appearances.

“I feel normal. I feel good,” Misiorowski said. “The rest was 100% good. I feel ready.”

Misiorowski was named to the All-Star team for the second time in his two seasons but did not pitch in last week’s game.

He has faced the Mets once, allowing five runs in 3 2/3 innings and took the loss in a 7-3 defeat at New York last July.

Peralta, 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA last season in 33 starts with Milwaukee, has been inconsistent with New York.

He was 2-2 with a 6.39 ERA in five starts in June and is 0-2 with a 5.54 ERA in three starts this month.

The right-hander lasted just 4 1/3 innings in his last start on July 11, allowing two runs on three hits but walking five in a 92-pitch outing, taking the loss in a 4-0 home defeat against Boston.

“It’s a terrible, terrible feeling coming out before the fifth inning,” Peralta said afterward. “I’ve been struggling, and I’m just working on it, trying to navigate through this. It’s been difficult, but not impossible for me. I never lose the hope. Just keep working — that’s what I keep telling myself. And at some point, I’m going to navigate through it.”

Peralta has issued 44 walks — sixth most in the National League — in 104 1/3 innings and also allowed 15 home runs.

He pitched well at American Family Field during his time with the Brewers, going 40-20 with a 3.19 ERA in 112 games, including 84 starts.

–Field Level Media

The Chicago Cubs have found their rhythm at the plate.

Chicago will try to keep it up when it welcomes the Detroit Tigers for a three-game series beginning Monday night. The Cubs are coming off back-to-back wins over the Minnesota Twins, including a 10-1 rout on Sunday afternoon.

“Top to bottom, we’re just grinding out at-bats,” Cubs first baseman Michael Busch said. “We’re making that pitcher have his stuff for everybody in that lineup. I think it just makes his job tougher. It gets runners on base, it gets runners in scoring position.”

Detroit will try to spoil the Cubs’ momentum.

The Tigers won their first two games coming out of the All-Star break, but they fell short 3-2 against the host Los Angeles Angels on Sunday afternoon. Kevin McGonigle and Riley Greene each hit solo home runs in the loss for Detroit.

Tigers catcher Jake Rogers said he and his teammates felt good as they prepared to travel to Chicago.

“We came away with a series win,” Rogers said. “We’re happy.

“Obviously, we want to sweep there, and (it) could have been a big win, but it wasn’t our best hitting performance. They did a really good job of keeping us off the bases. And when they did, they got out of it.

“We’re playing winning ball right now. And obviously, it wasn’t a win there. And we wanted it, needed it, but we moved on.”

Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty (3-8, 4.48 ERA) is set to start the series opener. He is two strikeouts shy of reaching 100 on the season.

The 30-year-old Flaherty is going for his third victory in as many starts. In his most recent outing on July 10, he got the win after limiting the visiting Philadelphia Phillies to two runs on two hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out six.

In 18 career games (16 starts) against the Cubs, Flaherty is 4-4 with a 3.38 ERA. He has walked 37 and struck out 89 in 74 2/3 innings.

Chicago is set to counter with right-hander Jameson Taillon (2-5, 5.19), who is expected to be activated from the injured list after sitting out since early June because of a left hamstring strain. Taillon, who will make his 14th start of the season, has earned 84 career victories in 237 games.

Taillon, 34, has started against the Tigers five times in his career. He is 2-2 with a 5.81 ERA in those outings, and he has walked seven and struck out 27 in 26 1/3 innings.

Nico Hoerner will look to stay hot as the Cubs begin their second series after the break. The second baseman went 2-for-5 with a triple and four RBIs on Sunday afternoon, and he had eight hits in 13 at-bats during the series.

On the season, Hoerner is hitting .245 with four homers and 43 RBIs in 97 games.

The Cubs are 29-20 at home this season. The Tigers are 19-30 on the road.

–Field Level Media

The New York Yankees would like to be more consistent at the plate but are confident in a tight game when David Bednar is on the mound.

The Yankees certainly felt good about Bednar on Sunday night when they eked out a home win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. They hope there are situations this week to use him against his former team starting Monday in the opener of a three-game series against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.

New York is 2-9 in its 11 home games after getting a tiebreaking homer from Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the eighth inning of a 2-1 victory in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Dodgers.

“We got to be more consistent offensively, first and foremost,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after his team stranded 11 runners in the win. “That’s been the biggest thing that I think has kind of ailed us through these few weeks.”

The Yankees earned the win thanks to Bednar, who recorded the final five outs.

Entering the series against the team which dealt him to the Yankees at last season’s trade deadline, Bednar is on a career-best 20 2/3 inning scoreless streak in his past 17 outings. During those games, opponents are hitting .103, and it is the longest active streak in the big leagues.

“I faced Bednar a lot in my career before coming over here and I always thought he was a really good pitcher,” Chisholm said. “His stuff is really lights out. Combined with the way that he has just great composure every time he goes out there and trusts his stuff, it’s amazing.”

The Pirates are 8-3 in their past 11 games after Sunday’s 7-1 win at Cleveland. Pittsburgh has scored at least five runs eight times in that span, and is hoping it can do enough at the plate to avoid facing Bednar, who notched 101 saves in five seasons before the trade.

Among the key figures for Pittsburgh’s surge at the plate is rookie Esmeryln Valdez, whose two-run homer in the ninth inning was his 12th in 31 games.

Valdez also has an RBI in seven straight games and 20 RBIs this month.

“It’s the professionalism of the at-bats,” Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly said. “He’s not going up there necessarily trying to hit the home runs. He’s going up there to hit, and he’s got the power to leave anywhere in the yard. It’s been really impressive what he’s been able to do in such a short amount of time.”

The right-handed hitting Valdez is hitting .371 off left-handed pitching. He will face New York southpaw Ryan Weathers (3-7, 4.15 ERA), who is allowing a .234 average to right-handed batters.

Weathers is 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA in his past three outings but allowed one run on six hits in 5 1/3 innings a week ago in Washington, marking the eighth time this season that he allowed one earned run or fewer.

Weathers is 0-2 with a 2.77 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft (9-3, 3.49) is making his first career start against the Yankees and will attempt to rebound from allowing five runs for the second time in three starts. Ashcraft is 4-0 with a 4.08 ERA in his past five outings and surrendered five runs on five hits in five innings in a no-decision during Pittsburgh’s 7-6 win over Milwaukee on July 11.

–Field Level Media