Major League Baseball

Reds-Brewers preview

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:07 p.m. ET

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MILWAUKEE -- Standing all of six feet tall and 155 pounds, Zach Davies hardly looks like the prototypical staff ace -- but he's been exactly that for the Milwaukee Brewers this season.

Davies takes the mound Saturday evening against the Cincinnati Reds looking to write yet another chapter in what has been a breakthrough rookie season.

In 20 starts, Davies has gone 9-4 with a 3.96 ERA. He hasn't taken a loss since June 30, going 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA in his last six outings.

While he didn't take a decision his last time out, he held the Atlanta Braves to three runs on eight hits without a walk while striking out three over seven innings of work in an extra-inning loss at Miller Park.

"(I'm) frustrated a little bit with my outing but at the same time, I can take some positives from it," said Davies, who allowed more than two runs in a start for the first time since June 30. "It's tough going into extra innings and being on the losing side of things but there's always tomorrow."

Davies will be making his fourth career start against the Reds. He's 3-3 with a 2.41 ERA in his three previous outings against Cincinnati, with a 1-0 mark with a 1.42 ERA in two meetings this season.

He pitched seven shutout innings on July 17 when he scattered four hits and struck out five as the Brewers lost 1-0 on a ninth-inning passed ball.

"I let the defense make plays behind me," Davies said after that game.

Cincinnati will hand the ball to right-hander Dan Straily, who makes his 22nd start of the season looking to continuing a successful stretch. He hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of his last seven starts and is 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA in his last five outings.

"He's got a slider and a changeup and that's pretty vanilla when you think about it," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "He doesn't have a power this or a power sinker, a power split, but he knows how to pitch and he has the deception element that allows him to play better than we see on the radar gun."

Straily began the year in camp with the Houston Astros, posting a 6.00 ERA in five Grapefruit League appearances. Houston traded him to San Diego on March 28 and the Padres waived him three days later.

Cincinnati claimed him later that day and after making three appearances out of the Reds' bullpen, he moved into the starting rotation on April 18 and has been there ever since.

"(His) performance has been sensational when you consider how we got him," Price said. "He was going to be a long man and became really our most consistent starter from the beginning of the season to date."

The Reds' victory Friday gave them a 6-5 lead in the season series with Milwaukee, which has a four-game lead over last-place Cincinnati in the National League Central.

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