By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Kyle Lohse tries to get himself and the Milwaukee Brewers back on track when he takes the mound Wednesday in the middle test of a three- game series against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
The Brewers have lost two straight and four of six games since winning four in a row and are only 2-7 in Lohse's last nine outings. Lohse did not record a decision in last Friday's 4-3 loss at Cincinnati and allowed three runs, one of which was earned, in six innings.
Lohse is 1-5 in his past six decisions and 2-6 with a 3.84 earned run average in 13 total starts. The right-hander is just 1-4 in seven road assignments, but owns a respectable 10-8 mark and 2.74 ERA in 19 career meetings (18 starts) with the Astros.
Alfredo Figaro struggled against the Astros in Tuesday's 10-1 loss in the series opener and was touched for five runs -- four earned -- in 4 1/3 innings. Figaro surrendered a three-run homer to Carlos Pena and Brewers reliever Tom Gorzelanny gave up a grand slam to Matt Dominguez. Gorzelanny was responsible for three of those runs.
"It was one of those days where you feel like your command is just not there," Figaro said. "Today, I was a little tired in this game. I didn't have a lot of energy in that game, but we have to compete and we have to find the answers no matter how we feel. There's no excuse for the energy. You just have to fight it."
Scooter Gennett drove in the lone run for the Brewers. In injury news for Milwaukee, outfielder Ryan Braun saw a hand specialist Tuesday and is currently on the disabled list. Braun is batting .3-4 with nine homers and 36 RBI this season.
Houston eyes a series win over its old NL Central rivals after crushing Milwaukee on Tuesday night. Pena and Dominguez delivered the bog blows for the Astros with the latter adding five RBI on the night.
"It's pretty cool," Dominguez said about the grand slam. "I had a chance earlier in the game to do it and I just missed the pitch. Fortunately, I had the same opportunity later and got a good pitch to hit and got a good swing on it."
Jordan Lyles earned the win with seven innings of one-run ball, five strikeouts and no walks. Paul Clemens tossed the last two innings.
The Astros have won five of six games and will turn to starter Erik Bedard in Wednesday's contest. Bedard has won two of three starts and is coming off last Friday's 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, as he permitted only one unearned run and three hits in six innings.
Bedard, a left-hander, is 2-3 in 14 games (12 starts) with a 4.82 ERA and has lost both of his career starts against Milwaukee. He has allowed 11 runs and 11 hits over 8 1/3 innings in this series.
Houston lost nine of the 17 meetings against the Brewers in 2012.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/lohse-aims-to-get-on-track-in-houston