The Milwaukee Brewers will be looking to rebound from a dismal road trip that cost them the division lead when they open a four-game series against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
Right-hander Adrian Houser (3-3, 4.43 ERA) starts for the Brewers, opposed by All-Star right-hander Mitch Keller (9-7, 3.97), one of the few Pirates veterans to survive the trading deadline.
Pittsburgh lost at home to Detroit 6-3 on Wednesday when starter Osvaldo Bido was tagged for four runs in three innings, snapping the Pirates’ three-game winning streak.
Milwaukee finished a 1-5 road trip with a self-inflicted 3-2 walk-off loss at Washington on Wednesday, giving up two unearned runs in the ninth thanks to a pair of infield errors.
The Nationals loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth against closer Devin Williams on an error, single and a walk. Alex Call then hit a bouncer to third baseman Andruw Monasterio, whose errant throw to the plate allowed the tying and winning runs to score.
“I don’t think we played well enough to win today,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We did very little offensively and then we played poor defense in the last inning. That’s going to get you beat.”
The loss kept the Brewers a half-game behind first-place Cincinnati in the National League Central. Before the recent road struggles, the Brewers had taken two of three from Cincinnati at home.
Counsell was asked if the upcoming seven-game homestand was a chance to make up some ground.
“It’s probably the time of year when we’re going to start saying that, and that’s fair,” Counsell said. “We’re in a stretch, but every game throughout the season matters and we’ve got to keep trying to stack up wins.’
Milwaukee, 3-7 in its last 10 games, is 11-38 when scoring three runs or fewer, but 47-13 when scoring four or more.
Milwaukee’s three deadline additions will be making their home debut, including first baseman Carlos Santana, acquired from the Pirates. Santana, who had 12 homers and 53 RBIs with Pittsburgh, is 2-for-19 with the Brewers with one homer, but also committed one of the costly ninth-inning errors Wednesday.
The Brewers also acquired outfielder Mark Canha from the Mets and left-handed reliever Andrew Chafin from the Diamondbacks.
Houser was tagged for six runs in four innings in his last start, a 10-7 loss at Atlanta on Friday. Opponents are batting .300 against him this season with eight homers.
Houser is 3-3 with a 4.05 ERA in 13 career games, including nine starts, against the Pirates.
Keller has taken the loss in each of his three starts after a one-inning appearance in the All-Star game, allowing 16 runs in 16 2/3 innings over that span.
His most recent start was the best of the his post-All-Star break outings, giving up just two runs in 5 2/3 innings in a 2-1 loss to Philadelphia.
“Definitely needed a good one after two rough ones,” Keller said after the game. “Yeah, just felt more in a groove, attacked the zone a lot better. And yeah, just was able to finish better.”
Keller is 0-3 with a 4.62 ERA in five career starts against Milwaukee, including a 5-0 road loss on June 17 when he gave up four runs in five innings.
In addition to Santana, Pittsburgh also traded away left-hander Rich Hill, first baseman Ji-Man Choi, catcher Austin Hedges and infielder Rodolfo Castro.
–Field Level Media
