Astros  2    Brewers  3

Houston Astros (70-76) at Milwaukee Brewers (71-75), 8:05 p.m.

Sports Network | September 18, 2009

(Sports Network) - The Milwaukee Brewers begin their final homestand of the season this evening, as they welcome the Houston Astros to Miller Park for the first of three straight contests.

The Brewers went 5-2 on a seven-game road trip, splitting a four-game series with the Cubs after a three-game sweep in Arizona. Milwaukee will play its next 10 games at home, where it is 34-37 this year, before closing out the season with six on the road.

Jody Gerut hit a grand slam in yesterday's 7-4 victory, while Mike Rivera added a two-run double. Dave Bush gave up four runs on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings to record the victory.

Chris Narveson will make his second straight spot start tonight in place of Manny Parra, who is battling a stiff neck. Narveson made his first start of the season, and second of his career, on Sunday versus the Diamondbacks, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks over three innings.

The 27-year-old lefty is 1-0 with a 4.67 earned run average this season. He made the first start of his career back in 2006 against the Astros while with the Cardinals. He gave up two runs over four innings with six strikeouts in a no-decision.

After an off day on Thursday, the Astros hope to end a four-game losing streak. Their skid was extended on Wednesday in a 6-5 loss to the Reds that saw Houston lose despite hitting five solo homers.

"We just couldn't seem to put a whole lot together," said Astros manager Cecil Cooper. "Everything was solo jobs. [The Reds] seemed to get a lot of two-out base hits in RBI situations."

Jeff Keppinger had a pair of home runs for his first-career multi-homer game, while Kaz Matsui, Carlos Lee and Geoff Blum also went deep. However, Cincinnati scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the seventh inning.

Tonight's starter for the Astros, Bud Norris, had followed a three-start losing streak with back-to-back wins. He pitched to a 13.11 ERA over his skid, but has allowed just three runs over 12 innings since. He faced the Pirates last Friday and gave up a run on six hits over six innings with a career-high tying seven strikeouts.

The 24-year-old righty is 5-3 with a 5.44 ERA this year. He faced the Brewers for the first time on August 7 and got the win, allowing two runs on three hits and five walks over six innings.

The Brewers have won seven of 12 versus the Astros this year and took two of three in the only meeting so far at Miller Park on August 14-16.