Milwaukee @ New York preview

THE STORY: Milwaukee last paid a visit to Yankee Stadium in 1997, when the Brewers were still in the American League and New York was in the midst of a run that would produce four world championships in five years. Not much has changed for the Yankees, who are perennially among baseball's elite and currently hold a half-game lead over Boston for the best record in the AL. The Brewers, though, are flexing their muscles and have built a three-game lead in the NL Central. Speaking of muscles, Milwaukee ranks second (91) to the Yankees (111) in home runs as the teams open a three-game series Tuesday night in New York.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSWI, YES

PITCHING MATCHUPS: Brewers RH Zack Greinke (7-2, 4.77 ERA) vs. Yankees RH Freddy Garcia (6-6, 3.30 ERA).

Greinke is coming off his best outing of the season, holding the Tampa Bay Rays to one run on four hits while striking out 10 in seven innings. He is 7-1 in his last nine starts, striking out 74 in 56 1/3 innings. Greinke has struggled in his career against the Yankees, going 2-3 with a 5.27 ERA vs. New York in 10 appearances (seven starts). Mark Teixeira is 5-for-11 with a homer against him.

Garcia has strung together three straight impressive outings. He beat Cincinnati last time out, permitting two unearned runs on three hits in seven innings. He has worked 6 1/3 innings in six of his last seven outings, allowing more than three runs only once in that span. After a stretch in which he yielded seven homers in seven starts, Garcia has not been taken deep in his last three outings. He hasn’t faced Milwaukee since 2007.

ABOUT THE YANKEES (45-31): New York has won 12 of its last 16 to take an ultra-slim edge over the Red Sox in the AL East. Since getting swept at home by Boston earlier this month, the Yankees have won five straight series – three in interleague play. Alex Rodriguez is batting .500 (13-for-26) over a seven-game hitting streak and also has a six-game RBI streak, knocking in nine runs in the span. Ironically, he has not homered in 13 straight games. Since Derek Jeter went on the DL on June 14, Nick Swisher has hit in 10 of 12 games with 11 RBIs.

ABOUT THE BREWERS (44-35): Prior to beating up on Minnesota in a three-game sweep this past weekend, Milwaukee had troubles with two other AL East teams, dropping two of three to Boston and Tampa Bay. Percentage-wise, the Brewers own the best home record (29-11) in baseball, but they are only 15-24 on the road. Stars Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder enter the series on a roll. Braun has hit in 17 straight games and Fielder in nine in a row. Fielder is second in the NL in homers (21) and leads the league in RBIs (68). Closer John Axford has converted 17 straight saves.

FINAL PITCH: Braun, who has swatted 144 homers midway through his fifth season with Milwaukee, already has hitting streaks of 17, 13 and 11 games this season.