Brewers at Twins
The Milwaukee Brewers make another attempt at taking over first place in the National League Central when they visit the Minnesota Twins on Monday for the opener of a four-game, home-and-home series. Milwaukee wasted an opportunity to leap past the Chicago Cubs on Sunday as it dropped a 2-1 decision in Tampa Bay to halt its winning streak at three games.
Orlando Arcia extended his hitting streak to five games by driving in the lone run with his second homer in three contests for the Brewers, who trail the Cubs by one-half game. Minnesota edged Texas 6-5 on Sunday to earn a split of their four-game set and sit 3 1/2 games behind Kansas City for the second wild-card spot in the American League. Eddie Rosario ended his nine-game drought by hitting one of three homers for the Twins, who are a disappointing 25-33 at home and trail first-place Cleveland by six games in the AL Central. Brian Dozier also went deep before exiting the win with an undisclosed illness but hopes to be in the lineup for the series opener.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FSN North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers LH Brent Suter (2-2, 3.04 ERA) vs. Twins RH Ervin Santana (12-7, 3.28)
After making five straight solid starts, Suter was tagged for five runs and eight hits over 5 1/3 innings in a loss to St. Louis on Wednesday. The 27-year-old native of Illinois pitched well in his last three turns on the road, allowing five runs over 17 frames, but came away with three no-decisions. Suter will be facing Minnesota for the first time in his brief career.
Santana is coming off his major league-leading fifth complete game of the year, a triumph at San Diego on Wednesday in which he gave up two runs and four hits while registering a season-high nine strikeouts. The 34-year-old Dominican has lost each of his last two turns at home, even though one was a complete game against the Los Angeles Angels in which he yielded only two runs. Santana has struggled versus Milwaukee, going 0-2 with a 7.41 ERA in three career starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Dozier has reached the 20-homer plateau for the fourth straight season, becoming the ninth Twin to accomplish the feat and first since Justin Morneau did it in five consecutive years (2005-09).
2. Milwaukee OF Domingo Santana could miss the series opener after suffering a bruised right wrist when hit by a pitch on Sunday.
3. Minnesota 3B Miguel Sano remains day-to-day after being hit on the left hand by a pitch on Friday.