The Milwaukee Brewers hope veteran left-hander Jose Quintana can replicate his first outing when they host the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday afternoon.
Quintana (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will start the rubber match of the three-game series. He will oppose right-hander Keider Montero (6-6, 4.76 ERA in 2024), who will make his season debut for Detroit.
The Brewers evened the series with a 5-0 victory Tuesday as Quinn Priester and four relievers combined on a one-hitter. Priester, acquired from the Boston Red Sox this month, allowed three walks over five hitless innings before a leadoff double in the sixth. The bullpen then retired 12 straight.
Milwaukee also averted its second four-game losing streak of the season. The Brewers were the only team in the majors last season to avoid a skid of at least four games.
Quintana, who was not signed as a free agent until early March, opened the season in the minors. In his first start for Milwaukee on Friday, he tossed seven innings of four-hit ball in a 7-0 win at Arizona in an 80-pitch outing.
Quintana is 6-6 with a 4.85 ERA in 23 career games (22 starts) against Detroit. He has not faced the Tigers since 2022, when he was with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rhys Hoskins, who entered hitting .182, hit his first homer of the season and a pair of singles in Tuesday’s win. Christian Yelich, who was given a day off Monday after a .143 start, singled in the seventh to snap an 0-for-16 skid.
Brice Turang has his hit safely in 17 of 18 games and owns a team-high 24 hits.
The Brewers, whose pitching staff has been riddled with injuries, made a roster move before Tuesday’s game to bolster their bullpen, recalling right-hander Logan Henderson from Triple-A Nashville. Right-hander Elvin Rodriguez, who pitched five innings in relief Monday, was sent down.
Henderson was 2-1 with a 3.21 ERA in three starts at Nashville.
“He’s been throwing the ball really well,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “That’s kind of why he’s here. We need help. All hands on deck. Whether or not he ends up staying for an extended period of time will depend on him and other people’s health and that type of thing.”
Detroit needs a victory Wednesday to win its fifth consecutive series after being swept in the first set of the season.
Montero will be called up Wednesday from Triple-A Toledo to make the start. Reliever Brenan Hanifee, who allowed two unearned runs on three hits Tuesday, will be optioned to Toledo.
“It’s all about the rotation and giving multiple guys a benefit from it,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday afternoon. “We’ve been able to go this entire way so far without any of our starters being on that traditional five-day start, and we have a chance to continue it with arguably a guy who could’ve been on our team from the get-go.”
Montero is 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA in two starts this season with Toledo.
Scheduled starter Reese Olson was pushed back to Thursday.
–Field Level Media
