Brewers, Twins open home-and-home series (Aug 07, 2017)
MINNEAPOLIS -- The Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins reconvene their border rivalry at Target Field on Monday with the two Midwestern teams trying to stay in playoff contention.
Milwaukee (59-54) left Tampa Bay on Sunday with a 2-1 loss, snapping a three-game winning streak, but didn't fall any further back in the National League Central after Chicago lost. The first-place Cubs lead the second-place Brewers by a half-game.
Minnesota (53-56) beat Texas 6-5 on Sunday to split a four-game series but couldn't gain any ground. The third-place Twins are six games behind the first-place Cleveland Indians in the American League Central, 3 1/2 games back of the Kansas City Royals in the race for the second AL wild card.
Brent Suter (2-2, 3.04 ERA) starts for the Brewers on Monday with the Twins sending ace Ervin Santana (12-7, 3.28) to the mound. The clubs will meet again Tuesday at Target Field before squaring off Wednesday and Thursday in Milwaukee.
Pitching, for both teams, is the key to the push for the playoffs.
Milwaukee allowed just two runs in the three-game series in Tampa Bay, recording shutouts Friday and Saturday before a 23-innings scoreless streak ended Sunday.
"They've performed brilliantly," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. "Our pitching staff is doing a great job, and we've gotta give them some more room for error. We can't expect them to be absolutely perfect, so we have to find a way to put some runs on the board and have some more room for error.
"But we couldn't ask for more out of the starters, they're doing an outstanding job."
Suter has helped Milwaukee's cause in his limited time as a starter. He is 2-1 with a 2.55 ERA in six starts since joining the rotation for the injured Chase Anderson. Suter, who has never faced Minnesota, took a loss in his last outing when he gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals.
It was the only time he allowed more than three runs in any of his seven starts this season. Yadier Molina hit two homers off Suter in the game.
"(Suter) was good, but Yadier Molina got him," Counsell said. "That was really the story of the game. Molina is the first hitter we've seen that has had a big game against him.
"I haven't looked at the pitches yet, but Molina did a nice job and got some pitches he could hit. Other than that, I thought it was a good Brent start. I thought he pitched really well and did his job."
As for the Twins, Minnesota starter Jose Berrios allowed two homers and five runs in the first inning Sunday before finishing with four scoreless frames. The bullpen followed with four scoreless innings before Matt Belisle recorded his first save since the final game of the 2012 season in Colorado.
"I think that game was kind of a testament to what we've done here all year," Belisle said. "I don't think there's any relent in this clubhouse. Nobody's ever giving up. We may get throttled sometimes, we may put it on some teams, but we've been tremendous -- I think you've all heard it -- of unhooking the trailer of yesterday, no matter what it is. We've also been very good at staying in the fight all nine innings."
Santana provided a pick-me-up to the Twins in his last outing. Minnesota had lost three games in a row and six of seven on a West Coast road trip when Santana toed the rubber in San Diego on Wednesday.
The All-Star right-hander proceeded to throw his fifth complete game of the season, more than any other team has compiled, leading the Twins to a 5-2 win. Santana also drove in two runs while hitting in the NL park.
"You look for your guys with track records and experience to step up when they can, and he got the chance today," Twins manager Paul Molitor told MLB.com after the game. "He was the starter, he was the middle man, he was the setup man, he was our closer and our clutch hitter. So a pretty good day for him and us."
Santana is 0-2 with a 7.41 ERA in three career starts against the Brewers.
