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Diamondbacks-Brewers Preview

May 2, 2009 - 6:17 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Arizona (10-13) at Milwaukee (12-11), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Max Scherzer had a solid outing for Arizona in its series opener with Milwaukee. That was followed by one from Jon Garland.

Now, Dan Haren looks to give the Diamondbacks another quality start Saturday night as they seek consecutive wins over the Brewers at Miller Park for the first time since 2003.

Haren (2-3, 1.54 ERA) tries for his third straight victory after tossing a three-hitter Monday in a 7-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. Haren was tagged for a leadoff homer by Alfonso Soriano but retired 22 of the next 23 hitters en route to his seventh career complete game.

"You just try to start the game over at that point," Haren said. "I gave up the run in the first, and once I was able to put up two or three zeros in a row, I felt like we were right there."

The Diamondbacks (10-13) scored four runs in the eighth inning Friday, and snapped the Brewers' four-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory. Garland gave up just two runs in 6 1/3 innings, but didn't get the decision.

"I'm glad that (Garland) didn't get stuck with that loss, that we came back," said Arizona manager Bob Melvin, whose team has won four of six overall and is 1-1 on its eight-game trip. "He's pitched in that fashion for us all year. Most of the games that he's in, he's in there late in the game and they're close games. We haven't given him much run support."

Scherzer threw six scoreless innings Thursday before the Brewers (12-11) tallied four in the seventh off Tom Gordon and went on to their fifth straight victory at home over the Diamondbacks.

Arizona tied Friday's game with a swinging bunt by Justin Upton then followed by a pinch-hit, two-run double to left by Tony Clark that appeared to land foul.

"We haven't been getting too many breaks," Melvin said. "(Justin) hits a little nubber out front of third and beats it out. Tony puts a good swing on the next ball. We'll take it."

Arizona last won two in a row in Milwaukee on Sept. 19-20, 2003.

But the Diamondbacks, who are batting a major-league worst .231 this season, scored just one total run in Haren's first three starts this season. The right-hander has no record with a 1.42 ERA in two career appearances against the Brewers.

Milwaukee counters with Braden Looper (2-0, 2.45). Signed in the offseason to help offset the losses of CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets, Looper has proven to be a solid pickup.

The right-hander, though, looks to avoid a similar start to his last outing. In a 10-5 win over Pittsburgh on Monday, he allowed the first four batters to reach base and gave up two first-inning runs.

Looper tied a season high with four walks but equaled a career best with seven strikeouts.

"I did everything I could to try to keep us in the game," he told the Brewers' official Web site. "I was pretty bad to go only five innings. That puts such a strain on the bullpen."

Looper pitched 199 innings last season with St. Louis - more than any Brewer did in 2008. He is 1-2 with a 4.08 ERA in 26 relief appearances and two career starts against the Diamondbacks.

Eric Byrnes, who is batting just .175, snapped an 0-for-13 slide Friday with a sixth-inning double. He is 3-for-7 lifetime against Looper.