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Milwaukee, WI – After the New York Mets were swept in their first-ever visit to Miller Park in 2001, they took 15 of the next 21 matchups on the Milwaukee Brewers’ home field.
On Wednesday afternoon, though, Milwaukee goes for its first three-game home sweep of the Mets since that initial Miller Park matchup as the Brewers complete a nine-game stretch in Milwaukee.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGlobal.com have made the Brewers -190 moneyline favorites for Wednesday’s game against the Mets. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 80% of more than 750 bets for this game have been placed on the Brewers -190.
Ryan Braun went 3 for 4 with four RBIs while Prince Fielder hit his 20th home run of the season Tuesday as the Brewers (42-35) defeated the Mets and Johan Santana 6-3.
Milwaukee, leading the NL Central, took all three games from New York at Miller Park from April 24-26, 2001, batting .404 with 14 extra-base hits.
In the first two games of this series, the Brewers are hitting .392 with 11 extra-base hits. Milwaukee is 5-3 on its homestand.
"It couldn’t get much better,” said Braun, batting .429 during a seven-game hitting streak. "We have a tough schedule up until the All-Star break. We’ve got these guys one more day, go to Chicago and then we’ve got the Dodgers and Cardinals."
Fielder hit a solo shot in the seventh to reach the 20-homer mark for the fourth consecutive season. He’s batting .350 (14 for 40) with five home runs and nine RBIs in 10 career home games versus the Mets.
The Brewers have taken three of five from the Mets in 2009, and Yovani Gallardo (8-4, 2.86 ERA) looks to give Milwaukee its first season series win over New York since 2003. The right-hander is 4-2 with a 1.76 ERA in his last seven starts.
"He’s been great for us all year," Braun said. "He’s been our guy.”
Gallardo had nine strikeouts and gave up one run and four hits over 7 2-3 innings of Friday’s 5-1 victory over San Francisco. He retired 16 in a row after surrendering a solo shot in the first.
In his first career appearance against the Mets, Gallardo did not get the decision in a 1-0 loss at Citi Field on April 18. He struck out seven and yielded five hits in six scoreless innings.
New York (37-39) is looking to avoid its first six-game slide since Sept. 5-10, 2005. The Mets went 9-18 in June – their worst month since a 7-19 September in 2003.
"We just had a little family talk – a little private family discussion,” manager Jerry Manuel said following Tuesday night’s 30-minute closed-door meeting. "Just to get things in order, a lot of things."
One thing of those things is hitting. New York is batting .191 during its five-game skid.
One of the few Mets producing at the plate is third baseman David Wright, who raised his average to .345 with Tuesday’s 3-for-4 effort. His two-run shot in the first inning was his first home run in 20 games.
Mike Pelfrey (5-3, 4.67) takes the mound in the series finale. He allowed four runs in Friday’s 9-1 loss to the Yankees, but only two were earned as second-inning errors by Wright, Alex Cora and Nick Evans gave the Mets’ crosstown rivals a 4-0 advantage.
"There was a point there, I started laughing,” Pelfrey said following his five-inning outing. "You want the ball to get hit to those guys. They make great plays all the time. That was just weird."
The Mets have lost four of Pelfrey’s last five starts.
The right-hander made one career start versus Milwaukee, pitching five innings and giving up four runs in a 12-3 home defeat May 12, 2007.
Posted: 7/1/09 6:00AM ET