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Brewers hope to end long slide vs. Pirates

Aug 31, 2007 - 3:10 PM Pittsburgh (59-74) at Milwaukee (66-67) 8:05 pm EDT

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) - Quickly fading away after becoming one of the majors' biggest surprises, the Milwaukee Brewers hope to recapture some of their early season magic as they begin a three-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After defeating the Pirates on July 2 to go to a season-high 14 games over .500 at 48-34, the Brewers dropped three straight to Pittsburgh to start an extended dry spell of 18-33 since that time.

The Brewers, who have not been two games under .500 all season, have won just six of their last 22 contests.

Milwaukee will turn to rookie Yovani Gallardo (5-4, 4.86 ERA) to turn things around. He was roughed up in his last outing - a 6-2 loss at San Francisco on Saturday - in which he surrendered five runs and seven hits over three frames, losing for the third time in four starts.

The righthander took the loss in relief in his only career appearance against the Pirates, allowing four runs over 2 2/3 innings on July 3.

The Brewers will likely not get a break from Tony Armas, Jr. (2-4, 6.93) if his track record against them holds up. He is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four lifetime starts against them.

The righthander did not factor into the decision in Sunday's 5-4 loss at Houston. He allowed three runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.