The Milwaukee Brewers have been erratic on the road since the All-Star break.
They began the second half by winning five of six on a trip to Cincinnati and Philadelphia. Now, they have lost four of five road games going into the finale of a three-game series against the host Washington Nationals on Wednesday afternoon.
The contest will conclude a troublesome six-game road trip for the Brewers, who snapped a four-game losing streak by winning 6-4 on Tuesday.
"We kind of did it on a night that guys who have been providing a lot of production didn't and some other guys did, so that's always a good thing," Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said.
The Nationals have lost four of their past six games.
The four runs allowed on Tuesday marked the fewest yielded by Milwaukee pitching on the trip. Part of the snags have come from failing to post lockdown innings after producing runs in their previous half-inning.
"We've not done a good job with that," Counsell said of failing to maintain momentum.
The Brewers don't want to waste chances against struggling teams. They are set to conclude the first of three consecutive series against teams in their division basements (Washington, Colorado) or close to it (Pittsburgh).
Wade Miley (6-2, 3.06 ERA) is set to come off the injured list to start for Milwaukee on Wednesday. The left-hander has been sidelined since July 10 due to bone chips in his pitching elbow. His recovery included receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection.
"Obviously, I'd like to make all my starts, but it's just part of it," Miley said.
Before missing time, Miley had a pair of six-inning scores outings across a four-game stretch.
"The cutter had like a little wrinkle in it," Miley said of that run of success.
Miley is 2-3 with a 3.74 ERA in eight career starts vs. the Nationals, but he hasn't faced them since 2017.
Abner Uribe gave up a run out of the Milwaukee bullpen on Tuesday, but his contributions could be key moving forward. He hadn't allowed a run in his previous five outings.
"(We want) to give him tests ... and this was another one," Counsell said. "He threw strikes. I think when Abner throws strikes, we're going to be fine."
The Nationals hope third baseman Jake Alu will be fine in the majors after he returned to the roster on Thursday. He has spent most of the season with Triple-A Rochester, where he hit .298 with five homers and 43 RBIs and added 16 stolen bases in 74 games.
"Consistency is the name of the game with baseball," Alu said of his goal.
He went 1-for-3 with an RBI single on Tuesday while starting at third base for the first time in the majors. Alu broke in with Washington in May, making four starts in left field, then returned for one game in mid-July, when he appeared as a pinch hitter and stayed in to play second base.
Nationals manager Davey Martinez said Alu seemed more comfortable on Tuesday.
"He definitely seemed a lot better this go-around," Martinez said.
Washington will send left-hander MacKenzie Gore (6-8, 4.42) to the mound on Wednesday. He has been up and down this season, though he hasn't given up a run in his past two home outings covering a total of 6 1/3 innings.
The Nationals won consecutive starts by Gore before he took a road loss to the New York Mets on Friday, when he gave up three runs on five hits in five innings. The second-year pitcher beat the Brewers the only time he faced them, when he fired six shutout innings and struck out 10 in a 4-0 road win on June 4, 2022.
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