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Milwaukee tries to rebound in Atlanta

(Sports Network) - The Milwaukee Brewers will attempt to rebound from Wednesday's potentially costly loss when the postseason hopefuls begin a four- game series with the host Atlanta Braves tonight at Turner Field.

The Brewers fell out of a first-place tie with rival Chicago in the National League Central standings after falling to Houston in extra innings last night. The Cubs opened up a one-game lead on Milwaukee after edging Cincinnati, 3-2, on Wednesday.

Hunter Pence's one-out single in the bottom of the 10th inning snapped the Brewers' four-game win streak and lifted the Astros to a 5-4 victory.

Milwaukee sent the contest into extra frames when Rickie Weeks slammed a two- run homer off Houston closer Brad Lidge with one out in the top of the ninth.

Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder hit his NL-leading 47th homer of the season in the loss, while starting pitcher Dave Bush held the Astros to just one run and four hits over six innings in a hard-luck no decision.

Milwaukee will turn to veteran Jeff Suppan in an effort to get back on track tonight. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 4.15 earned run average in three September starts and defeated Cincinnati with a solid performance his last time out.

Suppan allowed three runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings in the Brewers' 5-3 decision over the Reds at Miller Park this past Saturday. He hasn't lost in four starts since a setback at Arizona on August 22.

The 32-year-old has not had success when facing the Braves, however. Suppan has lost all three lifetime starts against Atlanta and surrendered 16 runs (14 earned) in 13 2/3 innings over that span. He is 0-2 with a 9.58 ERA in two previous games at Turner Field.

Former Brewer Jeff Bennett will make his first major league start for Atlanta tonight, as well as his first appearance in the bigs since October 3, 2004.

Bennett spent the entire 2004 campaign with Milwaukee and went 1-5 with a 4.79 ERA in 60 relief outings that year. The 27-year-old spent all of the following season with the Brewers' Triple-A affiliate in Nashville and did not pitch at all last year after undergoing elbow ligament replacement surgery.

The right-hander posted a 3-5 record with a 3.42 ERA in 42 games (six starts) between Triple-A Richmond and Double-A Mississippi prior to his September callup.

Atlanta enters this series having won four straight contests and completed a three-game home sweep of Florida with Wednesday's 5-1 triumph. Chuck James delivered seven shutout innings on the mound for the Braves, while Edgar Renteria went 3-for-4 with a solo home run.

James held the Marlins to two hits with six strikeouts and a walk to earn his 11th victory of the season.

Mark Teixeira added a two-run homer for the Braves, who are currently 5 1/2 games in back of both the NL East-leading New York Mets and San Diego, the frontrunner in the wild-card race.

These teams played a three-game series at Miller Park in May, with the Braves winning two of those tests. The Brewers also lost two of three games to Atlanta at Turner Field last season.

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