Brewers travel to Houston to face baseball's worst

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HOUSTON - After a day off, the Milwaukee Brewers return to action tonight in Houston against the Astros.

The Brewers are eight games below .500 after a three-game home sweep of Cincinnati this week. The Astros continue to struggle at 31 games below .500. Right-hander Mark Rogers will make his third start of the year for the Brew Crew, against Astros right-hander Bud Norris. Meanwhile, Brewers’ manager Ron Roenicke is talking about shutting down starter Mike Fiers for the year, to avoid overworking his arm. The rookie right-hander already has a career 135 innings under his belt, including 55 at Triple-“A” Nashville before he was called up in May. The Brewers have been known to shut down pitchers if they throw 30-percent more pitches than the previous year. For Fiers, that would mean about 35 more innings – or five more starts – before he’s shut down. Fiers says he doesn’t want to stop, but he’ll do what’s best for the team. He threw six perfect innings against Cincinnati on Wednesday, and he’s 6-and-4 with a 1.80 ERA.

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Brewers’ right-hander Shaun Marcum had his first minor league rehab start delayed, when the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers were rained out at Appleton last night against Cedar Rapids. The teams will play a double-header this evening at Fox Cities Stadium, and Marcum is scheduled to start Game-One. He’s expected to throw around 40 pitches, as he gets over a tight throwing shoulder that’s kept him out for almost two months.

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