Rangers at Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers finished a long road trip on a good note and will try to carry the momentum into a five-game homestand, beginning with the first of three against the Texas Rangers on Friday. After opening their trip with a 1-5 mark, the Brewers swept three at Pittsburgh and begin this series in the second wild-card spot in the National League.
"I'm proud of our guys," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell told reporters after Wednesday's 8-3 victory. "There's not going to be quit. There's not going to be feeling sorry for ourselves. ... You look at the standings and it tells you you're right in it." Rookie Keston Hiura notched his first career two-homer game in the win for the Brewers, who survived the second straight absence of MVP Christian Yelich (back) to move into second place in the NL Central. They'll give the ball to veteran Gio Gonzalez in Friday's series opener against the Rangers, who counter with newcomer Kolby Allard as they try to snap a two-game slide. Texas had won five in a row before dropping the final two at Cleveland earlier this week and sits seven games out in the race for the second AL wild card.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Texas), FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers LH Kolby Allard (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Brewers LH Gio Gonzalez (2-1, 3.35)
Allard was acquired July 31 in the trade that sent reliever Chris Martin to Atlanta. A first-round pick out of high school in 2015, Allard won his first career start last year with the Braves but gave up 12 total runs in eight innings spread over three games in his first stint in the majors. The 21-year-old was 7-5 with a 4.91 ERA in 20 starts for Triple-A Gwinnett prior to the trade and then tossed five scoreless innings in his lone outing for Triple-A Nashville on Saturday.
Gonzalez is 0-1 with a 4.81 ERA over his last five starts after opening 2-0 with a 1.69 mark through his first four outings. The 33-year-old allowed one run in 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Chicago Cubs his last time out. Elvis Andrus is 7-for-21 with two doubles versus Gonzalez, who is 4-2 with a 2.44 ERA in 11 career games (nine starts) against the Rangers.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Rangers optioned OF Scott Heineman and LHP Locke St. John to Nashville.
2. Brewers OF Trent Grisham is 6-for-16 with a home run, four RBIs and two doubles during a four-game hitting streak.
3. Texas is 8-4 against Milwaukee since the latter moved to the NL in 1998.