 departed, Arizona scored four times in the eighth off relievers Oliver Drake and Carlos Torres. With the tying run at the plate, Jacob Barnes forced pinch hitter Paul Goldschmidt to fly out to end the threat. Barnes also worked the ninth for his second save this year.''It was a big situation. I had to get probably their best hitter out,'' Barnes said. ''You don't really know how his approach is going to be as a pinch-hitter, so that was kind of the question mark going into it.''The late dramatics overshadowed Nelson's dominance. He allowed one run on seven hits, three of them by Brandon Drury. Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin (4-5) gave up seven runs on 10 hits and didn't record an out in the fifth.''I didn't work ahead as I normally do,'' Corbin said. ''I just left some pitches up and they took some good swings.''HIT PARADEMilwaukee got three hits from Manny Pina and two hits each from Santana, Jesus Aguilar, Travis Shaw, Jonathan Villar and Orlando Arcia. Nick Ahmed, David Peralta and Daniel Descalso each had two hits for the Diamondbacks. But the biggest hit of the game came from Santana in the fourth, when he muscled a ball to right-center field for Milwaukee's first grand slam this season.''We know we have a good team and we still have a lot to prove,'' Santana said. ''We still have a long way to go, and I think a lot of `people still have a lot of things to prove here as a team, too. I think we're not where we want to be yet.''FULL NELSONNelson controlled the strike zone with a fastball in the mid-90s and used the shadows that crept across the diamond to his advantage. He threw first-pitch strikes to 23 of 27 batters he faced as Milwaukee built an 8-1 lead with the tall right-hander on the hill.''He was really sharp. He was just hitting his spots, he was getting ahead with the slider,'' Drury said. ''He was on, he got us.''RALLY THWARTEDFor the second straight game, Arizona pressed the issue late after getting to Milwaukee's bullpen.''It was still 8-1 and our guys were saying, `Let's just get something started, let's not shut down,''' manager Torey Lovullo said. ''Those are great rallying moments.''Drake allowed the first five runners of the eighth to reach without recording an out. Torres allowed a sacrifice fly to Drury and a run-scoring double to Descalso that cut it to 8-5 before Barnes forced Goldschmidt to fly out to center to end the threat.''It really just shows the character of this team,'' Lovullo said. TRAINER'S ROOMDiamondbacks: Manager Torey Lovullo said CF A. J. Pollock (groin) is ''progressing very well,'' but he doesn't have an exact date Pollock will return. Brewers: 1B/LF Eric Thames got a day off. Thames is hitless in his last 16 at bats and has just three hits in his last 45 plate appearances as his batting average has dropped from .333 to .278. UP NEXTDiamondbacks: Continue season-long 11-game road trip with a three-game series against the Pirates. Randall Delgado (1-0, 3.82 ERA) is projected to face Pittsburgh's Trevor Williams. Brewers: Matt Garza (2-1, 3.60) will take the hill in New York as Milwaukee opens a four-game set with the Mets.)
Time: 2:10 PM EDT Venue: Miller Park, Milwaukee, Wis., 53214 MILWAUKEE -- All week long, as the Milwaukee Brewers navigated through a season-high five-game losing streak, they insisted that all it would take is one moment, one game to turn things around. They got it Saturday in the form of a near-no-hitter from Chase Anderson that stopped the skid. Now, they'll try to start another winning streak Sunday when Jimmy Nelson faces Patrick Corbin and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park." I was thinking about that before the game -- let's have one big performance from somebody that gets it done for you and snaps you out of it," manager Craig Counsell said. Their victory, coupled with the Cubs' 5-0 loss to the Dodgers Saturday night, moved Milwaukee back into first place in the National League Central. Counsell hinted Saturday that his lineup might look a little different Sunday as he has considered dropping slumping second baseman Jonathan Villar out of the leadoff spot. Villar batted .285 and stole 62 bases a year ago, but has flirted with the Mendoza line all season while striking out 60 times." We're not at the start of the season anymore," Counsell said. "We're past the start of the season. He hasn't gotten on track, certainly to the level he was at last year." He's still going to be in there. If anything, I'm kind of throwing around in my mind maybe moving him down in the lineup for a little stretch here and see if we can get him going in a different place in the lineup." Nelson had been having a good month, posting a 1-0 record and 1.15 ERA in three starts before he gave up four runs on eight hits and a walk over five innings Tuesday against the Blue Jays. He got in trouble early, allowing a pair of runs in the second inning then gave up a two-run homer to Kendrys Morales in the fifth." All day I just kind of got in too deep of counts, too many hitters' counts," Nelson said. "That was basically it. Get in pitchers' counts, good things happen. Hitters' counts, you got to make some really good pitches." He'll be making his fifth career start against Arizona. In the four previous meetings, Nelson is 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA. Corbin, meanwhile, has gone 2-3 with a 3.60 ERA in six career appearances (five starts) against the Brewers and has a 1-1 mark and 4.76 ERA in three outings at Miller Park, including two starts. He comes into the game on a high note, having cleared the sixth inning in each of his last three starts with victories in his last two decisions to even his record at 4-4 on the season. Corbin held the White Sox to three runs on eight hits his last time out, striking out five with just one walk in six innings of work. Arizona had won six in a row before the Saturday loss but manager Torey Lovullo was able to find reason for optimism despite nearly being no-hit." We always focus on the positive to get us ready for the next moment," Lovullo said. "Nick (Ahmed) came up with a big base hit to stop the no-hitter and then we didn't shut down. We made a little noise in the ninth inning and made them maneuver in their bullpen a little bit and get some of their backend guys up, so we'll build on that and get ready for tomorrow." A victory over Milwaukee on Sunday would clinch the series for the Diamondbacks, who have won four of their last five overall with sweeps of the Mets and White Sox included in that stretch.
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