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Braun, Brewers take on Rockies again at Coors Field

Jul 16, 2011 - 3:11 PM (Sports Network) - His career-high hitting streak may be over, but Brewers All-Star outfielder Ryan Braun is still dangerous when it comes to taking on the Colorado Rockies.

The two forces will collide again tonight in the continuation of a four-game series at Coors Field, where Braun's Brewers have dropped two in a row. The Brewers were hammered, 12-3, in Thursday's series opener and suffered a 4-0 loss last night. Braun went 0-for-3 and saw his hitting streak come to an end at 23 games. The streak was the third-longest in team history. Braun's string of 24 straight games with a hit against the Rockies ended as well.

Nyjer Morgan and All-Star Game MVP Prince Fielder both finished with two hits for Milwaukee, which has lost three of four and six of its last 10 games. Chris Narveson was charged with the loss and gave up five hits and three runs over six innings.

"We're kind of in that rut where we're seeing what it takes to get that winning way on the road," Narveson said. "I think once we find it we'll be fine, but it's just been inconsistent trying to find it."

Milwaukee is a half-game behind both Pittsburgh and St. Louis for the NL Central lead and 0-2 so far on an 11-game road trip against NL West foes Colorado, Arizona and San Francisco. In other team news, the Brewers, who sport a dreadful 16-31 road record, and newly-acquired reliever Francisco Rodriguez restructured a deal on Friday after he was acquired from the New York Mets this week.

"I said at the beginning of the year, it's not about the money," Rodriguez said on the club's website. "It's about being comfortable and being able to embrace my role. Now it will be a lot easier for the manager and the front office to not think about [how many] games I'm finishing."

Milwaukee hopes K-Rod will be closing out games for tonight's starter Zack Greinke soon, as he gets the nod and has recorded consecutive no-decisions, including an 8-7 win over Cincinnati last Friday. He struck out 10 batters and permitted four runs -- two earned -- through six innings of work. He is 1-2 in his last three decisions and 7-3 with a 5.45 ERA in 13 starts this season.

Greinke, a right-hander, faced Colorado in a 7-6 victory on May 20 and did not factor in the outcome. He was reached for four runs and eight hits in six innings that day and owns a 1-1 mark in four career games (3 starts) with a lofty 7.56 ERA over that stretch.

Colorado is 2-0 so far on an eight-game homestand versus Milwaukee and Atlanta, and got great pitching from starter Juan Nicasio and a pair of relievers last night.

Nicasio struck out four and scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings, while Matt Lindstrom and Huston Street both tossed a flawless frame to preserve the four-hit shutout. There were no walks issued on Friday.

"He did a little something tonight that we haven't seen a whole lot of obviously since his arrival from Tulsa," Rockies manager Jim Tracy said of Nicasio. "There were a couple of different occasions where he got behind in the count a little bit, but threw sliders for strikes to get back into the count."

Todd Helton knocked in two runs for the Rockies, who have won four of five since a five-game slide. Dexter Fowler, recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Colorado Springs, doubled and scored twice in the win.

Colorado is 8 1/2 games off the pace in the NL West.

Jhoulys Chacin is 0-3 with a 4.56 earned run average over his last four starts and gets the nod tonight for the Rockies. Chacin pitched well in his last appearance -- a 2-0 loss at Washington last Sunday -- and allowed just one run and four hits over seven innings.

Chacin, who hasn't won since June 15 versus San Diego, fell to 8-7 with a 3.16 ERA in 18 starts this season. The right-hander is 4-3 in nine home starts and has never faced Milwaukee in his career.

Milwaukee swept a three-game set from Colorado in late May at Miller Park.