Milwaukee @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 2, 2011 ) Milwaukee 8, Minnesota 7

THE STORY: The Milwaukee Brewers’ comeback win on Saturday was tempered by the loss of Ryan Braun. The Brewers may be without their star left fielder Sunday when try to win their first road series in nearly a month against the Minnesota Twins. The Twins, meanwhile, have the unenviable task of trying to bounce back from a gut-wrenching loss against an angry Zack Greinke, who was knocked around in his last road start.

TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FS North (Minnesota)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Nick Blackburn (6-6. 3.64 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Zack Greinke (7-3, 5.63). Greinke was rocked for seven runs and five hits in two innings - his shortest outing of the season - Tuesday against the Yankees in what he called “just a real bad game.” He is very familiar with the Twins from his days with the Kansas City Royals. Unfortunately, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner has mostly bad memories. He is 3-8 with a 4.90 ERA in 19 games - 15 starts - against Minnesota. Joe Mauer is 11-for-38 with six RBIs and Danny Valencia is 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs against Greinke. Blackburn has allowed nine earned runs and 17 hits over his last 10 1/3 innings after going 5-0 with a 2.29 ERA over his previous nine starts. He lasted only 4 1/3 innings in a 15-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. Blackburn is 1-2 with a 6.46 ERA in four starts against Milwaukee. He will catch a big break if Braun doesn’t play. The three-time All-Star has seven hits - four doubles - in 12 at-bats against Blackburn.

ABOUT THE TWINS (35-46): Minnesota had won 10 of 11 at Target Field before suffering one of their worst meltdowns of the season. Minnesota led 7-0 after four innings Saturday, but managed one hit the rest of the way and lost 8-7. Matt Capps blew his sixth save of the season, allowing four runs in the ninth. Minnesota had been 29-3 when leading after eight innings. It was the Twins' eighth loss in the last nine games against Milwaukee. Minnesota collapsed in front of the largest regular-season crowd at Target Field (41,378) and fell to 3-2 on their nine-game homestand.

ABOUT THE BREWERS (45-39): Milwaukee seeks its first road series win since a four-game sweep of Florida from June 3-6. The Brewers had lost five straight away from Miller Park, including six of seven in American League parks, before their furious rally Saturday night. Braun extended his major league-best hitting streak to 22 games, but left in the eighth inning with a strained left calf. He is day-to-day. Reliever Takashi Saito earned the win Saturday with a scoreless eighth. He had been out since April 6 with a strained left hamstring.

FINAL PITCH: Braun is the only player in the majors to have three separate hitting streaks of more than 10 games this season.