The visiting Houston Astros will be looking for a happy offensive medium against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday in the rubber game of the three-game series at American Family Field.
Milwaukee right-hander Adrian Houser (0-0, 3.07 ERA) will start opposite Astros righty Brandon Bielak (1-1, 2.89).
The Astros were blanked 6-0 on Tuesday to snap their eight-game winning streak after pounding out five homers the day before in a 12-2 win in the series opener.
“I’ve seen it a bunch like that,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “You end up scoring a lot of runs one night, and you wish you could cut them up and spread them over two or three games. But that’s what happens. The ball is in the court of the pitcher.”
Colin Rea and four relievers combined on a five-hitter Tuesday night for the Brewers. Rea, recalled five days after being sent to Triple-A because of injuries in the rotation, allowed four hits over 5/13 scoreless innings for his first major league victory since August 2020 when he was with the Cubs.
Owen Miller had a two-run homer and rookie Joey Wiemer added a solo shot for the Brewers.
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, playing in his fourth game since coming off the IL, left in the sixth inning and his status is uncertain for Wednesday.
“He was feeling sick,” Baker said. “So, that’s why he called us out there. We just took him out because we thought it was the best thing to do for precautionary reasons. Like I said, he was feeling sick and you could sort of see it. He’s being evaluated by doctors and we’ll let you know tomorrow.”
Bielak got the win in his last start, a 5-1 victory over Oakland on Friday, giving up one run in five innings with a career-high nine strikeouts.
Bielak made one relief appearance after a call-up from Triple-A Sugar Land, on May 1. In three starts since, he has allowed five runs, four earned, in 14 2/3 innings.
Miller also had a pair of singles Tuesday, raising his average to .347. It was the third three-hit game in the last 12 days for Miller, a Wisconsin native who played at Ozaukee High School, about 35 miles from the Brewers’ ballpark.
“He didn’t have a great offensive season last year, but he got a ton of at-bats, kind of stockpiled and under his belt, and I think that’s so necessary for a young hitter in this league,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said of Miller, acquired from Cleveland during the offseason. “I think that experience and those struggles, you learn, you make adjustments, you adapt, and you combine that with the talent that he has as a hitter and he’s got a good little streak going here.”
Houser will be making his fourth start since coming off the injured list May 7. He allowed four hits in six scoreless innings in his last start but did not get the decision in a 1-0 loss at Tampa Bay on Friday.
Houser is looking to regain his form from 2021, when he was 10-6 with a 3.22 ERA, before dipping last season to 6-10 with a 4.73 ERA.
Houser is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in two career appearances, including one start, against the Astros, allowing one earned run in 6 1/3 innings.
With starters Brandon Woodruff, Wade Miley and Eric Lauer on the injured list, the Brewers reportedly are signing 32-year-old right-hander Julio Teheran, who last pitched in the majors in 2021.
Teheran, an All-Star with Atlanta in 2014 and 2016, was 4-2 with a 5.63 ERA in eight starts for the San Diego Padres’ Triple-A affiliate El Paso, before opting out of his minor league deal Monday.
–Field Level Media
