Off Topic » Ryan Braun will be back in the starting lineup Sunday

Milwaukee Brewers wrap up their four-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park.

Braun left the team ahead of their scheduled game in Pittsburgh Wednesday morning to get an injection on his right thumb — a process he undergoes every few months after a nerve issue in the thumb robbed him of his power in 2014.

Braun returned to the team Thursday ahead of the series opener against St. Louis but despite being ready and available Justin Layne Jersey , according to manager Craig Counsell, Braun has yet to appear in a game since coming back.

“Ryan is doing fine, he’s doing great,” Counsell said Saturday before the Brewers’ 3-2 loss to the Cardinals. “I just think that if we can give him more time, great, that works out for both of us in that perspective. He’ll play (Sunday).”

With Braun sidelined, Eric Thames has seen most of the action in left field, a move that allows Counsell to keep hot-hitting Jesus Aguilar at first base.

Putting Thames in left also allowed the Brewers the flexibility to option slumping outfielder Domingo Santana to Triple-A Colorado Springs Saturday morning.

The 25-year-old Santana hit 30 home runs in a breakout 2017 campaign but with his playing time limited after Milwaukee added Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich during the offseason, Santana hasn’t made the most of his limited opportunities. He was batting .249 with three home runs http://www.steelersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-benny-snell-jr.-jersey , 17 RBIs and a .667 slugging percentage while going more than two series without a start.

“We need to get Domingo going,” Counsell said. “At some point, we’re going to need Domingo. We’d both prefer he’d be rolling and clicking when that time comes. It’s tough to do when you’re not playing that much.

“Eric and ‘Aggie’ are playing well. We’re trying to find ways to get them both in the lineup. That’s a factor in this.”

To replace Santana on the active roster, Milwaukee recalled infielder Brad Miller from Colorado Springs. That move could help the Brewers address another troubling situation: The season-long offensive struggles of shortstop Orlando Arcia.

Arcia is batting .201 with a .234 on-base percentage this season but has remained in Counsell’s starting lineup on a regular basis because of his stellar ability on defense and because the Brewers lacked other viable options.

Eric Sogard has struggled at the plate this season, too, batting .146 with a .255 OBP. Counsell prefers to keep Jonathan Villar at second base, where he moved after Arcia was promoted two years ago and Tyler Saladino, who performed well enough after joining the team in May for the Brewers to send Arcia to Triple-A is out indefinitely with a serious ankle sprain.

“Brad has played all over the field,” Counsell said. “He played a lot of shortstop for a while Zach Gentry Jersey , then he played a lot of second base, then a lot of first base. So, he has moved around in different years, but it’s been a while since he played shortstop.”

One thing that has been constant for Milwaukee this season is right-hander Jhoulys Chacin.

As has been the case for most of his career, Chacin has been especially effective at home this season where he’s posted a 2.31 ERA in six starts at Miller Park.

Overall, he’s made a team-leading 16 starts this season and is 6-2 with a 3.18 ERA. He’s held opponents to a .231 average and a 1.24 WHIP while striking out 66 in 87 2/3 innings.

“He’s pitching,” Counsell said. “He’s got some cunning and some craftiness out there, as well as good stuff.”

The Cardinals will be trying to get a split of the series after Yadier Molina hit two homers Saturday. The Cardinals dropped the first two games by committing four errors Thursday and allowing a game-ending homer to Aguilar Friday.

Molina has five homers in his last six games and guided Miles Mikolas through 6 2/3 strong innings.

“What he’s doing behind the plate is willpower,” St. Louis Mike Matheny said. “Being able to handle pain and discomfort. He’s smarter at the plate. He has such a great idea Joey Bosa Jersey , and he’s dangerous, obviously. It’s hard to say, if he kept playing, where he’d be right now in the home run column and a number of others.”

Right-hander Luke Weaver gets the nod for the Cardinals as they try to build momentum after snapping a three-game losing streak.

Weaver will be looking for his first victory since May 11 when he threw five shutout innings in a 9-5 victory at San Diego. In seven starts since that outing, Weaver is 0-4 with a 4.46 ERA and has allowed four runs in each of his last three starts while recording only one out past the fifth inning.

He’s 2-2 with a 4.41 ERA in six career starts against the Brewers with a 2-2 mark and 3.68 ERA in four starts at Miller Park, where he lasted four innings and took the loss after giving up four runs on four hits in an 8-3 loss on May 28.

WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals will try again Saturday to cool off Philadelphia’s Odubel Herrera.

That is something nobody has been able to in more than a week.

Herrera homered for the fifth straight game and finished with four hits Friday night, helping the Phillies rout the Washington Nationals 12-2 in the opener of a three-game series.

He is hitting .472 (17 for 36) with six homers, 11 runs and 10 RBIs in his last eight games and raised his season average to .308.

“I don’t think there’s any words for it. I mean it’s simply incredible what he can do,” Friday’s starter and winner Zac Eflin said.

“The thing with Odubel is that he can shake off anything at any given time. … It can look like he’s struggling and then next pitch he hits it 440 feet.”

Herrera hit a tiebreaking two-run shot in the third inning for his 13th homer of the season Nick Bosa Jersey , matching the club record for consecutive games with a long ball. He has connected in six of his last seven overall.

The Phillies (40-33) pounded out 15 hits and jumped ahead of the Nationals (40-34) for second place in the National League East behind the Atlanta Braves.

“To me, today was the first game where we really got blown out. That was a blowout right there,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said after Washington lost for the eighth time in 11 games, including the completion of a suspended game.

“We’ve just got to keep our heads up, guys go home and rest, come back tomorrow and do it again.”

Washington’s Michael A. Taylor extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI double and Bryce Harper went 1-for-3 with a walk in the leadoff spot.

The Phillies got a homer and four RBIs from Carlos Santana, who also singled and walked twice.

Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (8-2, 2.55) opposes rookie RHP Erick Fedde (0-2, 5.63) in a matchup of 2014 first-round draft picks on Saturday. Nola was the seventh overall pick in the first-year player draft and Fedde was the 18th.

Nola hasn’t taken a loss since May 20 but scuffled in his last start L.J. Collier Jersey , allowing four runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings of a no-decision at Milwaukee. The Phillies prevailed 10-9.

“My command really wasn’t where it usually is,” Nola told mlb.com. “My fastball was cutting a little bit and missing off the plate a little bit. They had a good approach against me.”

Against the Nationals, Nola is 1-4 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 starts. Harper is 8-for-17 with two home runs versus Nola, Daniel Murphy is 8-for-20 and Anthony Rendon is 4-for-17.

Fedde makes his fourth start of the season for Washington and third since replacing injured Stephen Strasburg in the rotation. He’s coming off a loss to the Yankees on Monday, when he allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

“He pitched well except when he made one mistake,” Martinez told the Washington Post, referring to Aaron Hicks’ two-run homer in the fifth. “We were very, very excited to see this.”

Fedde will be making his first career start against the Phillies.