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Brewers-Reds Preview

Jul 17, 2009 - 4:51 AM By JEFF MEZYDLO STATS Senior Writer

Milwaukee (45-43) at Cincinnati (42-45), 7:10 p.m. EDT

The last time the Milwaukee Brewers faced Bronson Arroyo, he didn't make it out of the second inning.

Looking to maintain some momentum from their last contest, the Brewers hope to again get the best of Arroyo and the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night at Great American Ball Park.

Trying to regroup after losing eight of 11 games heading into the All-Star break, Milwaukee (46-43) got a three-run homer from Home Run Derby champion Prince Fielder and won 9-6 in Thursday's series opener.

"We finished the first half on a little bit of a downer note," said Brewers manager Ken Macha, whose team is two games behind NL Central-leading St. Louis. "It's nice to get a start like that."

The Brewers have outscored the Reds 62-40 while going 6-3 this year. Milwaukee set a season high for runs in a 15-3 rout at Cincinnati on May 6 as nine runs were charged to Arroyo, who was removed after failing to record an out in the second.

All-Star Ryan Braun, who singled to snap an 0-for-16 slump Thursday, hit a grand slam off Arroyo and had six RBIs in that contest.

The Brewers, though, might be in for more of a challenge this time against Arroyo (9-8, 5.38 ERA), who avoided a fourth straight loss by recording his second complete game of the season in his last outing.

The right-hander allowed four hits in a 3-0 win over the New York Mets last Friday. Arroyo gave up 16 earned runs in 14 innings during his previous three starts.

"I got my ninth win, which tied my career high for the first half of the season," Arroyo told the Reds' official Web site. "Even though my ERA is inflated, it's a good opportunity for me to kind of focus and feel like I have something going for me in the second half to keep this team in the race."

Trying to win 10 games for the fifth time in six seasons, Arroyo is 8-5 with a 4.25 ERA in 15 starts versus the Brewers. He's 1-1 with a 12.27 ERA against them this season.

While four of his 23 homers and 14 of his 81 RBIs this season have come against Cincinnati, Fielder is batting .310 (9 for 29) with three home runs and seven RBIs in his career versus Arroyo.

Milwaukee hopes right-hander Jeff Suppan (5-6, 4.70) can continue his success on the road.

Though Suppan is looking for his first victory since June 12, he's 4-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 10 starts away from Miller Park this season.

Overall, however, Suppan is 0-2 with a 5.22 ERA in his last five starts after giving up four runs, six hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings of a 5-4 win over St. Louis on July 8.

Suppan is 4-3 with a 5.67 ERA in 16 games versus the Reds (42-46), who've lost three in a row and eight of their last 11 contests.

On Tuesday, Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer and Joey Votto added a two-run shot for Cincinnati, which has lost four straight to Milwaukee.

Though the Reds are batting .239 against the Brewers this season, Votto is hitting .346 (28 for 81) with four homers and 11 RBIs in 20 games since coming off the disabled list after the death of his father.