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Astros-Brewers Preview

May 24, 2010 - 6:34 PM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Houston (15-29) at Milwaukee (17-27), 8:10 p.m. EDT

With poor play at home this season already in their record books, the Milwaukee Brewers will now try to avoid their longest losing streak there in nearly 14 years.

The Brewers will try to halt their slide at Miller Park by taking advantage of the NL-worst Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game series Tuesday night

Milwaukee (17-37) is last in the majors with a 4-14 home record, setting a franchise mark for worst start to a season. The Brewers have also lost eight in a row as a host for their longest skid since dropping nine straight from July 31-Aug. 11, 1996 at County Stadium.

Losers of 11 of 13 overall, Milwaukee will face an Astros team that's last overall in hitting (.227), homers (24), runs (132) and on-base percentage (.274). They've also plated 11 runs during a season-high five-game road losing streak.

At home, Milwaukee has dominated Houston (15-29) in recent years by winning 18 of 23 matchups, and outscoring its NL Central rival 43-18 while taking six of the last seven.

The Brewers enter this series with some momentum after winning 4-3 in Minnesota on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.

All-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman threw a perfect eighth inning in a setup role - his first appearance since blowing his fifth save in 10 chances during Wednesday's 5-4 loss at Cincinnati.

"He threw strikes, he was crisp, he was hitting the corners. It's encouraging," manager Ken Macha said of Hoffman, who need four saves to reach 600.

However, Macha turned to rookie John Axford in the ninth, and he recorded his first save by striking out Trevor Plouffe after giving up a run and loading the bases.

Macha's bullpen is ranked 29th with a 5.97 ERA, and he'll be hoping for a long outing from Randy Wolf (3-4, 5.10 ERA), who will try to avoid losing his third straight start. The left-hander comes in having been roughed up for 12 runs, 17 hits and seven walks in 11 1-3 innings in losses to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

"I'm concerned about the fact that I stink. I'm not going to candy-coat it," said Wolf, who was 6-2 with a 3.57 ERA in 12 starts for Houston in 2008, but 0-1 with a 3.65 ERA in his last four starts versus the Astros.

Houston, which begins a six-game swing, jumped out to 4-0 lead in the first inning Sunday before losing 10-6 to major league-leading Tampa Bay.

"It's tough times," first baseman Geoff Blum told the team's official website. "We've just got to keep battling. There's nothing we can point to that's going to turn the tide. We have to keep playing hard, and that's all you can do."

The Astros will send out Felipe Paulino (0-6, 5.36), who is 0-3 with an 8.53 ERA in four games - three starts - against Milwaukee. The right-hander gave up a season-high five walks over six innings Wednesday, but didn't get a decision in a 7-3 win over Colorado.

Right fielder Hunter Pence, who hit his team-high seventh homer Sunday, went deep three times and had five RBIs in six games last season in Milwaukee.