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Reds-Brewers Preview

Jul 26, 2010 - 8:52 PM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Cincinnati (55-45) at Milwaukee (47-53), 8:10 p.m. EDT

As they continue fighting for the NL Central lead, the Cincinnati Reds face the task of ending the Milwaukee Brewers' lengthy home win streak.

The Reds, however, have experienced plenty of success recently against the Brewers and will have Bronson Arroyo on the mound for Monday night's series opener.

In his attempt to rebound from a difficult outing, Arroyo will try to earn his third consecutive win at Miller Park and lead Cincinnati to a record-tying seventh straight victory in the series between the NL Central rivals.

The Reds (55-45) regained the division lead with Saturday's 7-0 win in Houston but matched a season low with three hits Sunday in a 4-0 loss, their major league-worst 12th shutout this season.

"When we hit, we are very good. But when we don't score, we don't score at all," manager Dusty Baker said.

Cincinnati will next try to deny Milwaukee its first seven-game home win streak over one season since Aug. 10-24, 2003. The Brewers (47-53) also won their final five games at Miller Park in 2006 and the first two in 2007.

In an 8-3 win over Washington on Sunday. Rickie Weeks hit his fifth homer in eight games and Casey McGehee added a three-run shot to complete a three-game sweep.

Weeks, who has 11 RBIs in his last 10 games, is on pace to become the second player to drive in 100 runs from the leadoff spot. He has 64 RBIs this season but two in his last eight games against the Reds.

Facing Arroyo might not help Weeks add to his total as he's 2 for 21 (.095) with 10 strikeouts in his career against the right-hander.

Arroyo (10-5, 4.26 ERA) is also 2-0 with a 1.63 ERA in his last four starts at Miller Park and posted a 0.64 ERA in his final two overall matchups against the Brewers in 2009. However, he enters this start after giving up seven runs over 5 2-3 innings Wednesday night against Washington.

The 8-5 defeat snapped a three-game win streak for Arroyo, who was 5-1 with a 2.20 ERA in his previous six starts.

His counterpart in Monday's game, Randy Wolf (7-9, 5.20), fared even worse that same evening as he was tagged for a career-high 12 runs and 13 hits in a 15-3 defeat at Pittsburgh. The left-hander, who was 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA in his first four starts this month, could have ended his misery sooner but volunteered to stay in the game to help his team.

"I was getting to the point I liked the way I was throwing the ball, and then you have a day like today where you just get killed," Wolf said.

A matchup with the Reds could help him put that miserable outing behind as he's 4-0 with a 2.12 ERA in his last five starts against them. Wolf is also 9-2 with a 3.11 ERA in 16 career matchups.

If Wolf can lead the Brewers to a season high-tying fifth consecutive win, he would also help them avoid their longest skid to the Reds since this series began in 1997. The Reds won seven in a row May 6-16, 2002.

Cincinnati's current win streak over Milwaukee includes a three-game road sweep Aug. 25-27 and two home wins May 17-18.

The Reds will have Scott Rolen back in the lineup after he missed nine games with a strained right hamstring. The third baseman is a career .304 hitter against the Brewers and is 3 for 8 (.375) against Wolf.

The statuses of Milwaukee outfielders Corey Hart (right wrist) and Jim Edmonds (stiff right Achilles' tendon) are also unknown.