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STATS LLC 17y

Brewers-Dodgers Preview

The Los Angeles Dodgers are no doubt glad to be done with interleague play for the time being.

They'll look to shake off a frustrating sweep when they open a three-game home series with the scuffling Milwaukee Brewers on Monday in a matchup of division leaders.

The Dodgers (25-19) lead the NL West by one game over second-place San Diego, while the Brewers hold a 5 1/2-game lead on Houston in the NL Central.

However, the Dodgers were outscored 19-4 by the Los Angeles Angels in a three-game set in Anaheim, a sweep which concluded with Sunday with a 4-1 defeat. The series ended the positive momentum from the 5-1 homestand which preceded it.

"We started out this week great, and we ended up playing poorly and getting beat three games," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "We feel like we can score runs and we've got the people to score runs. It just didn't happen for us this weekend."

The series against the Brewers (27-17) may be just what the Dodgers need, as they have won five straight games against Milwaukee in Los Angeles. The Brewers are 9-22 at Dodger Stadium since joining the National League in 1998.

Milwaukee, which is opening a six-game road trip that also includes a stop in San Diego, had dropped seven of nine before coming back from a four-run deficit to beat Minnesota 6-5 on Sunday and avoid a three-game sweep.

That nine-game slide began with a 2-5 road swing. The Brewers are 17-7 at home, but only 10-10 away from Miller Park.

"It was a tough road trip (last week), and this one's going to be tough, too," Geoff Jenkins, who hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs Sunday, told the Brewers' team Web site. "But to get a win before going on the road is nice."

The Brewers went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position Sunday after going just 1-for-25 in that situation in their previous five games. Jenkins' homer was his 200th, all for Milwaukee, making him the fourth player to reach that plateau with the team.

"It would be hard to enjoy it if we didn't win the ballgame," Jenkins said. "It was a big hit at the time, and it's obviously nice to pitch in and help out. We definitely needed kind of a jolt of energy."

Second baseman and leadoff batter Rickie Weeks, who is hitting .232 with 31 runs and a .341 on-base percentage, missed his fourth straight game with a sore right wrist, but plans to return Monday.

Milwaukee's Jeff Suppan (5-4, 3.25 ERA) will take the mound in the series opener after allowing six runs -- four earned -- and nine hits in seven innings of Wednesday's 6-2 loss in Philadelphia. He has lost two straight starts after winning his previous five.

Suppan, who is 3-4 with a 3.78 ERA in eight career starts against the Dodgers, gave up two runs in seven innings of a 5-4 home loss to them on April 4.

Los Angeles will counter with Brett Tomko (1-4, 5.97), who was pounded for eight runs and nine hits in just 2 1-3 innings of last Monday's 8-4 loss to St. Louis. He was coming off his first win of the season, a 5-3 victory at Florida in which he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

Tomko is 0-2 with a 7.80 ERA in four outings, including three starts, at Dodger Stadium this season. However, he has pitched well against the Brewers, going 7-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 13 career appearances, including 11 starts. The lone defeat came in 1998.

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