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Brewers aim to continue torrid start

May 7, 2007 - 3:02 PM Washington (9-22) at Milwaukee (21-10) 8:05 pm EDT

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- The Milwaukee Brewers are baseball's best team. As their reward, they will get to host the team with the worst record in the majors.

The Brewers host the Washington Nationals on Monday in the series opener of a three-game set at Miller Park.

Milwaukee picked up its seventh win in eight games with a 6-4 victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday. That also ended a stretch of 22 games against NL Central opponents in which Milwaukee was 10-2 at home and 16-6 overall.

The Brewers enter this series averaging 5.06 runs per game - fourth-most in the NL. They outscored the Pirates, 24-11, while taking three of four following a stellar weekend from J.J. Hardy and Prince Fielder.

Hardy batted .615 (8-for-13) in the three wins with two homers and seven RBI and enters Monday's contest with a 17-game hitting streak in which he is hitting .423 (30-for-71) with seven homers and 22 RBIs.

Fielder, who hit three home runs and collected eight RBI in the series, is hitting .440 (11-for-25) with four homers and 12 RBI during a seven-game hitting streak.

Chris Capuano (4-0, 2.90 ERA) is expected to start for Milwaukee. The lefthander's bid to win a fifth straight start was cut short when he left Monday's 4-0 win over St. Louis after three innings with a bruised right calf from a batted ball.

He is 0-1 with a 2.51 ERA in two career starts against the Nationals.

Rookie Matt Chico (2-3, 6.59) will try to keep Washington from matching its longest losing streak this year.

The lefthander, making his first appearance against Milwaukee, is coming off the shortest outing of his career in which he lasted just 3 2/3 innings of a 7-3 loss to San Diego on Wednesday.