• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Twins, Brewers get back at it in Milwaukee

May 20, 2012 - 2:45 PM (Sports Network) - The Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers will see who has more left in the tank as the two square off in a Sunday afternoon matchup at Miller Park that comes after an extra-inning affair the night before.

Trevor Plouffe homered in the top of the 11th inning and Matt Capps pitched a scoreless bottom of the frame for his ninth save of the season as the Twins outlasted the Brewers on Saturday 5-4.

Carl Pavano pitched six quality innings, allowing a pair of runs on five hits while striking out six but was unable to get the win as Jared Burton let a 4-2 lead slip away by allowing two runs to score on an Aramis Ramirez home run in the eighth.

The Twins bullpen rebounded from there and got three scoreless innings to allow for Plouffe's late-game heroics. The Twins won the first game of the series in an 11-3 blowout and have now won four straight.

Yovani Gallardo matched Pavano pitch for pitch on the other side by allowing two runs, only one of which was earned, on three hits that matched his strikeout total for the game.

Nyjer Morgan went 3-for-5 and Corey Hart and Ryan Braun each had two hits for Milwaukee. The rest of the team was 2-for-27 combined in the game. Milwaukee has now lost four straight and six of its last seven.

"I think both sides threw everything they had out there," said Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke. "We had a bunch of chances, but it was a tough game and we just couldn't pull it out."

Milwaukee will send out Zach Greinke to try to stop the losing streak.

The right-hander has excelled in his second season with Milwaukee with a 4-1 record and 2.88 ERA through his first eight starts.

Greinke is currently riding a hot streak as he has not allowed a run over the last 15 innings he has pitched in his last two starts while also striking out 18 batters in that stretch. In his most recent start Greinke scattered five hits over seven innings while striking out seven in an 8-0 win over the New York Mets on Tuesday.

With his recent surge in punchouts, Greinke (53) has risen to sixth overall in strikeouts in the NL entering play.

The former AL Cy Young winner has plenty of experience pitching against the Twins but not a great deal of success. Greinke is just 3-8 with an ERA of 4.96 in 20 career appearances, 16 of which were starts, against Minnesota.

Opposing Greinke will be Jason Marquis, who has struggled in his last few starts.

Marquis followed up a four-inning, six-run start on May 10th with an outing in which he pitched five innings and allowed five runs on nine hits in a 5-0 loss to Cleveland last Tuesday.

The struggles have not been confined to the past few start as the veteran right-hander has an ERA that has climbed to 6.68 to go with a record of 2-3. All three losses have come during his last three starts.

Although a 4.59 ERA pitcher during his career the Twins were hoping for more out of the 33-year-old after signing him in the offseason. Marquis split last season between Washington and Arizona and ended the season at 8-6 with an ERA of 4.43.

With his time in the NL, Marquis was never really able to figure out the Brewers, a team he is 6-10 with a 4.95 ERA against in 19 career starts. Marquis does have more wins than losses (10-8) in interleague play but also has a bloated ERA of 5.50 in his interleague appearances.

These teams have met 14 times now in the last two-plus seasons, with the home team winning 10 of those meetings.