Kyle Lohse tries to bounce back from his worst start of the season on Thursday when the Milwaukee Brewers close out a three-game set with the New York Mets at Citi Field.
Lohse had been magnificent for the Brewers until Friday in Pittsburgh, as the Pirates battered him for eight runs and nine hits in five innings. Still, Lohse is 7-2 on the year with a 3.27 ERA.
"It was a bad night, all around," Lohse said after Friday's game. "I made some bad pitches, some good pitches, and it kind of went their way tonight. You turn the page. Just like I turned the page on the last outing, which was really good, I turn the page on this one, which was really bad. That's how the season goes."
Lohse has struggled in 10 starts versus the Mets, going 2-4 with a 5.40 ERA in 10 starts.
New York, meanwhile, will counter with lefty Jonathon Niese, who is 3-3 with a 2.68 ERA. Niese did not get a decision on Friday in San Francisco, but pitched well, as he allowed a pair of runs and five hits in seven innings of his team's 4-2 loss.
Niese is also a perfect 2-0 in five starts versus the Brewers, while pitching to a 5.68 ERA in those outings.
After falling in Tuesday's opener Milwaukee bounced back on Wednesday, as Wily Peralta retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced in 6 1/3 solid innings and the Brewers eked out a 3-1 win.
Peralta (6-5) won his second straight start, giving up just one run on four hits and a walk while trimming his ERA from 3.03 to 2.90 for the season.
Jonathan Lucroy had three hits, including two doubles, and scored a run for the Brewers, who have won three of their last four.
"I thought we played well," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "Yes, we didn't add on a couple runs that we could have, but I thought we played really well."
Curtis Granderson reached base the first three times he was up on a walk, a single and a double for the Mets, who had won the opener of the three-game series 6-2 on Tuesday after losing the last six games of a brutal 11-game road trip.
Granderson scored New York's only run on Lucas Duda's sacrifice fly in the second inning.
Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom (0-3) remained winless in his first six MLB starts. The 25-year-old rookie gave up three runs on nine hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings.
Milwaukee won four of seven games against the Mets last season and went 3-1 at Citi Field.
[SportsNetwork.com]
