Milwaukee @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 10, 2011 ) Cincinnati 3, Milwaukee 4

THE STORY: The Milwaukee Brewers are on the verge of clinching the National League Central. So why do they seem so unhappy? Some sluggish play has led to a 2-6 record in the last eight games. Meanwhile, Prince Fielder and Francisco Rodriguez have each made comments to the media that can only serve as distractions going forward. The Cincinnati Reds have been out of the Central race for a while, but have amused themselves lately with long home runs and a late charge back toward .500. The Brewers will be looking to snap out of their funk when they hand the ball to Randy Wolf in the opener of a three-game series at Cincinnati on Friday.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FS Ohio (Cincinnati)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Reds RH Bronson Arroyo (8-11, 5.28 ERA) vs. Brewers LH Randy Wolf (12-9, 3.44).

The next home run Arroyo surrenders will pass Eric Milton for the Cincinnati record. The veteran righthander is struggling through his worst season since breaking into the majors in 2000 and is coming off an outing in which he allowed six runs without recording an out in the second inning at Colorado. He allowed three homers in the contest, bringing his major league-leading total to 40. Arroyo has won each of his two starts against Milwaukee this season, yielding two home runs - to Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks - in 13 1/3 total innings. Wolf has allowed two earned runs or less in six of his last nine turns but has surrendered at least five in each of the other three. He is coming off a two-run, seven-inning no-decision against Philadelphia last weekend. Wolf was knocked around for six runs in four innings on April 3 at Cincinnati and owns a career mark of 10-4 with a 3.40 ERA in 22 career starts against the division rivals.

ABOUT THE REDS (74-76): Cincinnati, which has won three straight, suddenly looks like it could jump back up and secure the franchise’s first back-to-back winning campaigns since 1999-2000. Brandon Phillips has led a power barrage with four homers in the last four games while Chris Heisey has four in the last six. Both Phillips and Heisey went deep Thursday and Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th to spark the Reds to an 8-6 series-clinching victory over the Chicago Cubs.

ABOUT THE BREWERS (87-63): Milwaukee owns a 5½-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central with a magic number of eight. That is why it seemed like a strange time for Fielder to reiterate that this was likely his last year in Milwaukee and for Rodriguez to suddenly grumble about his role as a set-up man to closer John Axford. No one actually believed Fielder would re-sign with the team as a free agent this winter, but Rodriguez had seemed to accept his role before opening up this week about his unhappiness at not getting any save opportunities. Axford is 19-for-19 in save opportunities since Rodriguez was acquired during the All-Star break. Meanwhile, the offense has slumped to an average of two runs over the last eight games, dropping the Brewers into a tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the No. 2 seed in the NL.

FINAL PITCH: Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto may have thrown his last pitch of the season Wednesday. The righthander, who leads the majors with a 2.31 ERA, left his start against the Cubs in the fourth inning after suffering a strained right lat muscle. While a return this season was not ruled out completely, there is no need to risk further injury by rushing him back.